Can't have it both ways, Kevin: Do you 'back the blue' or Trump?
CNN embarrassed itself and America Wednesday by putting Donald Trump, a suspected criminal who has been impeached twice, found liable for sexual abuse, and indicted multiple times, on television for a “town hall.” Trump’s appearance was the litany of lies, grievances, and grotesquely bullying behavior and beliefs we all expected it to be.
Trump told the town hall audience that he was “inclined to pardon many of” the insurrectionists who have been charged and convicted of crimes related to the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. He also said only “a couple” of Jan. 6 insurrectionists “probably got out of control.” Calling this assertion a lie undersells how deranged it is.
Trump also reiterated his extremist attacks on law enforcement, characterizing Capitol Police Lt. Michael Byrd as a “thug” for shooting MAGA insurrectionist Ashli Babbitt as she attempted to climb through a broken glass door to breach the House of Representatives’ chamber. Trump’s figurative and literal embrace of MAGA rioters is a slap in the face to the law enforcement officers who were under siege on the Capitol grounds that day.
On Thursday, instead of coming out and saying as much, Republican Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy went for a photo-op bike ride then tweeted about his support for law enforcement, writing: “To all of those who put on a uniform each day: thank you. You don’t hear this enough, but our nation is not only grateful for you—we are better off because of you.” It went about as well as you might imagine.
RELATED STORY: White House staff and advisers cringed as Trump kept rewinding scenes from Jan. 6