President Donald Trump is not backing down in his response to Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, who is leading the Democratic Party’s partisan effort to impeach the president.
At an Oval Office news conference on Wednesday with Finnish President Sauli Niinistö, Trump pushed a previous assertion that Schiff committed treason by ad-libbing his phone call with the Ukrainian president at last week’s hearing.
“He should be forced to resign from Congress, Adam Schiff, he’s a lowlife,” President Trump said.
President Trump: "[Schiff] made it up, every word of it and read it to congress as though I said it — and I'll tell you what, he should be forced to resign from Congress, Adam Schiff. He's a low life. He should be forced to resign." pic.twitter.com/mBRK1F54dK
— The Hill (@thehill) October 2, 2019
“I call him Shifty Schiff,” he added. “We don’t call him Shifty Schiff for nothing. He’s a shifty, dishonest guy.”
President Trump: "I call him Shifty Schiff. We don't call him Shifty Schiff for nothing. He's a shifty, dishonest guy." pic.twitter.com/H10AQ0p8sC
— The Hill (@thehill) October 2, 2019
But the president didn’t stop there.
Comparing the Democrat to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who vowed to prevent State Department officials from testifying in the impeachment fiasco, Trump stated that Schiff couldn’t carry the chief diplomat’s jockstrap, according to reporters — he used the phrase “blank-strap.”
Per White House pooler @toddgillman in the Oval Office just now: “Trump compared Schiff to Pompeo.
“That guy couldn’t carry his blank strap” (the phrase he didn’t say is likely ‘jockstrap’)”— Anne Rumsey Gearan (@agearan) October 2, 2019
For some reporters, like Wall Street Journal reporter Rebecca Ballhaus, speculating that he was blanking out the word “jock” was asking too much.
Trump, in the Oval with the president of Finland, says repeatedly of Schiff vs. Pompeo: Schiff “couldn’t carry his ‘blank-strap.’”
— Rebecca Ballhaus (@rebeccaballhaus) October 2, 2019
And while that seemed to be the money statement from the news conference, the president also stressed that he supports protecting whistleblowers.
“I think a whistleblower should be protected if the whistleblower is legitimate,” he said when asked about supposed GOP concerns about threats.
Pooler @toddgillman
“Q that even some Republicans are concerned about threats against the whistleblower.
“I don’t care. I think a whistleblower should be protected, if the whistleblower is legitimate.”
The president’s manner is feisty. Combative. “— Debra J. Saunders (@debrajsaunders) October 2, 2019
Trump asked about even GOP concerns about threats about the whistleblower:
Trump: “I don’t care. I think a whistleblower should be protected, if the whistleblower is legitimate.” Per pooler @toddgillman
— Kathryn Watson (@kathrynw5) October 2, 2019
President Trump said Wednesday he has a “duty to report corruption,” in reference to former Vice President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter Biden, who were a focal point of his call to the Ukrainian leader.
“I have a duty to report corruption,” he said. “And let me tell you something, Biden’s son is corrupt. And Biden is corrupt.”
Hunter Biden was employed by the Ukrainian gas company Burisma Holdings, which paid him up to $50,000 a month. As vice president, his father threatened to withhold $1 billion in loan guarantees if Ukraine did not fire a top prosecutor investigating corruption — the prosecutor was investigating Burisma Holdings.
Trump expressed confidence that the Democrats’ impeachment campaign is going nowhere.
“They’ve been trying to impeach me from the day I got elected,” the president said. “You know what? They failed. This is the easiest one of all, because this one is based on one conversation.”
Trump: "They've been trying to impeach me from the day I got elected. I've been going through this for 3 years. They've been trying to impeach me from the day I got elected. You know what? They failed. This is the easiest one of all, b/c this one is based on one conversation." pic.twitter.com/NFt9R144rC
— The Hill (@thehill) October 2, 2019
Taking a chance and assuming that it’s not #FakeNews, there was also a report from CNN’s Jim Acosta that Trump slammed the media as “the enemy of the people.”
“You have corrupt media in this country and it truly is the enemy of the people,” the president said, according to Acosta.
Trump ends his rant in the Oval Office with the President of Finland: “You have corrupt media in this country and it truly is the enemy of the people.”
— Jim Acosta (@Acosta) October 2, 2019
As for Schiff creating his own take of Trump’s call, Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy said Wednesday he has signed a resolution to censure his Democratic colleague.
“Chairman Adam Schiff has been lying to the American people for years. Now he is so desperate to damage the president that he literally made up a false version of a phone call. Enough is enough. I have signed a resolution to censure Schiff in the House of Representatives,” he tweeted.
Chairman Adam Schiff has been lying to the American people for years. Now he is so desperate to damage the president that he literally made up a false version of a phone call.
Enough is enough. I have signed a resolution to censure Schiff in the House of Representatives.
— Kevin McCarthy (@GOPLeader) October 2, 2019
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The longest-tenured writer at BizPac Review, Tom grew up in Maryland before moving to Central Florida as a young teen. It is in the Sunshine State that he honed both his passion for politics and his writing skills.
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