Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH) claimed Donald Trump’s action in the insurrection was inexcusable. Dana Bash dinged him for excusing Trump implicitly.
Dana Bash gets him on his hypocrisy
Dana Bash was direct.
“You voted this week to dismiss the trial as unconstitutional since Donald Trump is no longer in office,” Dana Bash said. “I know you’ve said you’re going to keep an open mind as a juror but setting aside questions of timing or constitutionality do you consider trump’s actions leading up to and on January 6 to be impeachable conduct. yes or no.”
After a nonsensical word salad Portman tied himself into the hypocrisy corner.
“I have said with regard to the president’s comments that day that they were partly responsible for what happened,” Portman said. “For the horrible violence that occurred on Capitol Hill. I’ve also said you know that what he did was wrong and inexcusable.”
Dana dinged him appropriately for contemplating no penalty for “inexcusable.”
“If you don’t vote yes aren’t you excusing it if you say it’s inexcusable?” Bash said. “If you don’t vote yes one could argue that you are doing just that. You are excusing the behavior.”
It is not rocket science. One would think that the Benghazi would understand that.