CNN: Trump refused to call off rioters during 'shouting match' with Kevin McCarthy
Well, this seems significant.
In an expletive-laced phone call with House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy while the Capitol was under attack, then-President Donald Trump said the rioters cared more about the election results than McCarthy did.
“Well, Kevin, I guess these people are more upset about the election than you are,” Trump said, according to lawmakers who were briefed on the call afterward by McCarthy.
You mean Trump really was “delighted” about the rioters’ actions, as earlier reporting indicated? That can’t be, can it? He’s usually so civic-minded!
Trump's comment set off what Republican lawmakers familiar with the call described as a shouting match between the two men. A furious McCarthy told the President the rioters were breaking into his office through the windows, and asked Trump, “Who the f–k do you think you are talking to?” according to a Republican lawmaker familiar with the call.
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The Republican members of Congress said the exchange showed Trump had no intention of calling off the rioters even as lawmakers were pleading with him to intervene. Several said it amounted to a dereliction of his presidential duty.
I can’t tell you how many times Republicans compared me and others to Neville Chamberlain, the infamous Nazi-appeaser, while we protested the Iraq war. We were “appeasers,” according to these sometime patriots. And now Republicans who were put in harm’s way by their own party leader and president are appeasing out their bloomin’ assholes.
Here are a few choice quotes from actual Republicans whose offices were besieged on Jan. 6 thanks to the very upset and allegedly horrified Donald Trump:
“He is not a blameless observer, he was rooting for them. On January 13, Kevin McCarthy said on the floor of the House that the President bears responsibility and he does.” — anonymous GOP member of Congress
“You have to look at what he did during the insurrection to confirm where his mind was at. That line right there demonstrates to me that either he didn't care, which is impeachable, because you cannot allow an attack on your soil, or he wanted it to happen and was OK with it, which makes me so angry.” “We should never stand for that, for any reason, under any party flag. I'm trying really hard not to say the F-word.” — Washington Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler
“I think it speaks to the former President's mindset. He was not sorry to see his unyieldingly loyal vice president or the Congress under attack by the mob he inspired. In fact, it seems he was happy about it or at the least enjoyed the scenes that were horrifying to most Americans across the country.” — Ohio Rep. Anthony Gonzalez
