CONGRESS
'Ugh': Republicans cringe after Trump's attack on
75-year-old protester
Most GOP senators tried to deflect questions about the
president's latest controversial tweet.
By MARIANNE
LEVINE and BURGESS EVERETT
06/09/2020
02:21 PM EDT
Updated:
06/09/2020 02:43 PM EDT
If there
was ever a tweet from President Donald Trump that Senate Republicans didn’t
want to touch, it’s this one.
For four
years, Senate Republicans have endured a regular gantlet of reporters’
questions about Trump tweets, ranging from attacks on their own colleagues to
telling a handful of congresswomen of color to “go back” to the countries they
came from.
Trump’s tweet
Tuesday morning attacking a 75-year old protester in Buffalo — who was shoved
by the police and bled from his head after falling — stunned some in a caucus
that’s grown used to the president’s active Twitter feed. After examining a
print-out of the tweet, Sen. Lisa Murkowski gasped: “oh lord, Ugh.”
“Why would
you fan the flames?” she said of the president’s tweet. “That’s all I’m going
to say.”
But though
the moderate Murkowski was nearly rendered speechless, the missive mostly
failed to get a rise out of Senate Republicans. Many know Trump will tweet
something else soon they will be asked to respond to, even if the Buffalo tweet
seemed a new frontier for Trump’s insult-laden social media persona.
“It’s a
serious accusation, which should only be made with facts and evidence. And I
haven't seen any,” said Senate Majority Whip John Thune (R-S.D.) “Most of us up
here would rather not be political commentators on the president’s tweets.
That’s a daily exercise that is something you all have to cover... Saw the
tweet. Saw the video. It’s a serious accusation.”
But those
senators were the rare ones speaking out. Even Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah), who
marched with Black Lives Matters protesters and voted to oust Trump from office
in the impeachment trial, seemed exasperated.
“I saw the
tweet,” Romney said. “It was a shocking thing to say and I won’t dignify it
with any further comment.”
Many GOP
senators declined Tuesday to respond to Trump’s tweet suggesting Martin Gugino,
the Buffalo protester, “could be an ANTIFA provocateur.’ The president added,
without evidence, that Gugino may have been trying to “set up” the police
officers who hurt him. The tweet did not come up at the Republicans' weekly
lunch, according to an attendee.
Republican
senators have a well-worn playbook by now if they don’t want to wade into the
latest tweet-fueled controversy by saying they hadn’t seen Trump’s latest
comments. Still, even when provided paper copies of the president’s tweet on
Tuesday, many declined to view them.
Sens. Cory
Gardner (R-Colo.) and John Cornyn (R-Texas) declined to comment on the tweet,
saying they hadn’t read it. When asked whether they wanted to see the tweet,
both showed little interest. Sen Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) said he had “no
information about that man or who he is.”
Other
senators said they’ve stopped paying attention to Trump’s tweets altogether.
Citing what he called a longstanding policy about Trump, Sen Ted Cruz (R-Texas)
said: “I don’t comment on the tweets.”
Sen. Kevin
Cramer (R-N.D.), who read a reporter’s printout of the tweet, said he knows
“nothing of the episode,” which occurred last week and prompted widespread
outrage. The Buffalo police department later suspended the two police officers
involved without pay, and the Erie County District Attorney charged the
officers with assault. Both pleaded not guilty and were released without bail.
But Cramer
suggested he’s long accepted the president’s communication style.
“I don’t
think Donald Trump is going to change his behavior,” Cramer said. “I’ll say
this: I worry more about the country itself than I do about what President
Trump tweets.”
Trump’s tweets
questioning Gugino’s credibility come amid a nationwide reckoning about police
brutality in the aftermath of George Floyd’s killing by Minneapolis police
officer Derek Chauvin. Senate Republicans have urged the president to take on a
more unifying tone but so far Trump has proven resistant.
‘We ought
to set aside this talk’: Pence’s take on systemic racism meets a new test
Last week,
peaceful protesters were cleared outside of the White House with tear gas so
that the president could pose for a photo outside of a church, prompting a rare
Republican rebuke.
The
president’s latest attack on Gugino highlights the complicated prospects of
Congress getting anything done when it comes to police reform. Democrats
unveiled a sweeping police reform package Monday that would ban chokeholds and
limit “qualified immunity” for police officers, among other provisions. Romney
said Monday that he’s planning to introduce his own police reform bill and Sen.
Tim Scott (R-S.C.) is also working on a proposal.
While
Republicans have offered criticism of Trump’s handling of the protests, GOP
senators see little upside in getting into a public argument with the president
these days.
When asked
about Trump’s tweet, Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine.) merely replied: “I think it
would best if the president did not comment on issues that are before the
courts.”
Andrew
Desiderio contributed to this report.
Sem comentários:
Enviar um comentário