Here Are Some of the Republican Senators Twisting Themselves in Knots to Avoid Comment on Trump’s Bible Stunt
Brendan Hoffman/Getty Images
MSNBC’s Kasie Hunt published a lengthy Twitter thread on Tuesday as Republican lawmakers kept running away or diverting from her questions about President Donald Trump’s photo-op in front of the St. Johns Episcopal Church.
Hunt was on Capitol Hill to ask Republican senators questions about how Trump took a brief journey to the church, held up a bible, and stood for photographs on Monday. This occurred just after D.C. police forcefully removed people in front of the White House who were peacefully protesting the death of George Floyd.
In the end, Hunt documented a plethora of Republicans, many of whom declined her questions, claimed they were too preoccupied, offered milquetoast comments about Trump and the protesters, or some combination of the three. Here’s just a partial list:
Sen. Kelly Loeffler, R-Ga., does not respond when asked if what the president did last night was appropriate. Her spokesman handed me his card.
— Kasie Hunt (@kasie) June 2, 2020
Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., does stop to talk and says “we all could” do better when asked if POTUS could do better.
— Kasie Hunt (@kasie) June 2, 2020
Sen. Mike Enzi, R-Wyo.: “Sorry, I’m late for lunch.”
— Kasie Hunt (@kasie) June 2, 2020
Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska: What we saw last night “was not the America that I know.”
— Kasie Hunt (@kasie) June 2, 2020
Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio: “I’m late for lunch.”
— Kasie Hunt (@kasie) June 2, 2020
Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont.: “I was grateful for the president’s leadership.” Says George Floyd was murdered but looting is not acceptable.
— Kasie Hunt (@kasie) June 2, 2020
Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La.: “I didn’t follow, I’m sorry.”
— Kasie Hunt (@kasie) June 2, 2020
Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., walks by with no comment.
— Kasie Hunt (@kasie) June 2, 2020
I asked Sen. McConnell if President Trump’s leadership was right for this moment. “I’m not going to critique other people’s performances,” he said.
— Kasie Hunt (@kasie) June 2, 2020
Hunt wasn’t the only one asking these questions though:
Sen. Mike Lee, Republican from Utah, reax to WH protests being cleared out with tear gas for Trump to visit St. Johns: “I don’t have any reaction to it.. I haven’t seen footage. Haven’t read accounts of it.”
— Ali Zaslav (@alizaslav) June 2, 2020
GOP Sen. Josh Hawley says Republican senators didn’t discuss last night’s protest incident at the WH at Senate GOP lunch. He said they talked broadly about the unrest that happened in the US.
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) June 2, 2020
>@mkraju to @SenJohnKennedy: what did you think about what happened at the White House last night.
Kennedy: I don’t know. I wasn’t there.
— Jake Sherman (@JakeSherman) June 2, 2020
These responses are a notable contrast from Nebraska Senator Ben Sasse (R), who decried Trump’s use of the church as a ‘political prop.’
Have a tip we should know? tips@mediaite.com
