Matt Schlapp, chairman of the American Conservative Union, was a guest on CNN Wednesday morning, and when it was all over with, he must have wondered if he’d just been hit by a hurricane named Chris.
Host Chris Cuomo told Schlapp that had President Obama fired FBI Director under the same circumstances as Donald Trump did –quoting Trump, to get “the pressure is off me from that Russian investigation”–Schlapp would have been calling it a crime:
“Matt Schlapp’s beard would hop off his face and run down the street. How can you justify that kind of behavior from a president of the United States? America first?”
Schlapp then attempted to blame President Obama for colluding with Russia, saying that what Trump did was similar to similar to Obama telling Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev he would have “more space” and “greater flexibility” to deal with issues after the 2012 election:
“We all understood.”
But Cuomo was having none of it, telling Schlapp:
“You think that sizes up to James Comey, the head of the FBI ‘he’s a nutjob,’ Matt? ‘That Comey is a nutjob. I got that Russia pressure off me now.’ Forget about Obama, forget about him, he’s gone. History books, my friend. The question is, what did Trump mean and can you back, do you support him saying that about Comey to Russian officials.”
The flustered Schlapp tried to argue that Trump had merely been trying to tell the Russians who visited him in the Oval Office that there was nothing to any charges of collusion.
Cuomo laughed and fired back:
“You think he needed to tell the Russians there is nothing to exactly what happened and why they would be the perpetrators?. Oh, OK. It’s good to know you think the president and the Russians are on the same page about what happened. It’s good.”
Near the end of the interview, Schlapp said he was willing to wait and see what the outcome of the investigation into the Trump-Russia matter was. Cuomo reminded him:
“You’re trying to spin it. The whole righty attack machine.”
Doesn’t it make sense that if Trump is innocent, he’d welcome an investigation to clear him and his administration? The way he’s tried to shut down the probe only makes him look that much more guilty.
This article was originally published by the same author at LiberalAmerica.org