Senator Martha McSally Gets Pilloried for ‘Unprofessional’ Treatment of Manu Raju: ‘You Should Apologize’
Senator Martha McSally (R-AZ) is receiving harsh criticism after a video of her calling CNN congressional correspondent Manu Raju a “liberal hack” in response to a fairly innocuous question about President Donald Trump’s upcoming impeachment trial has gone viral.
Raju was on Capitol Hill Thursday asking senators if they will vote to allow witnesses to testify and for new evidence to be accounted for in the Senate’s impeachment proceedings. When Raju tried to ask McSally about this, she swatted him down and ran away from his questions.
“You’re a liberal hack. I’m not talking to you,” McSally said to Raju.
“You’re not going to comment?” Raju tried again.
“You’re a liberal hack,” McSally repeated.
After Raju tweeted about the incident, McSally responded with brazen confirmation and posting of her own interview:
A) you are.
B) here’s the video. https://t.co/zVgk9pBhdf pic.twitter.com/cfFdotLjFK— Martha McSally (@SenMcSallyAZ) January 16, 2020
This, of course, only elicited more pushback:
This is so unprofessional @SenMcSallyAZ — you owe @mkraju an apology but I’d be surprised if he gets one https://t.co/tJ7HosHJQn
— Yashar Ali 🐘 (@yashar) January 16, 2020
Someone having a fun day https://t.co/8j3hgNPTty
— Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) January 16, 2020
Apparently daring to ask a straightforward question of a senator makes a reporter a “liberal hack.” https://t.co/ju4kKw72en
— Peter Baker (@peterbakernyt) January 16, 2020
Seems pretty uncalled for. https://t.co/Bo0bJ5ougy
— Noah Rothman (@NoahCRothman) January 16, 2020
Martha McSally seems nice.
— Jack Shafer (@jackshafer) January 16, 2020
How long before Fox News uses this video to turn her into a conservative hero??? (This is Trump’s Republican Party. She is behaving like him….) https://t.co/Add9utzp6e
— Matt Lewis (@mattklewis) January 16, 2020
A strange answer to a great reporter asking a question that literally every senator si getting asked.
Also: Not how McSally’s predecessor — John McCain — treated @mkraju https://t.co/LVxvqyVRqm https://t.co/Z0WTROcT4a
— Jake Sherman (@JakeSherman) January 16, 2020
Quite a response to a pretty gentle question. https://t.co/3zQtO2T0qe
— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) January 16, 2020
Reminder that McSally LOST her race in 2018, then got to be a Senator anyway because John Kyl resigned and McSally was appointed to take the other seat. https://t.co/9EvCagrtcw
— Bradley P. Moss (@BradMossEsq) January 16, 2020
Even if Raju were a “liberal hack”—which he isn’t!—the question is one that every reporter should be asking every senator.
McSally’s response is just a non sequitur in service of a dodge. https://t.co/kl1q1hMEms
— Josh Chafetz (@joshchafetz) January 16, 2020
A simple, fair question that McSally should have answered but could have dodged politely if she wanted. The vast majority of Americans have no opportunity to ask their representative or senator direct questions like this and have to rely on the press to do that for them. https://t.co/dS9auZt0rS
— Kathryn Watson (@kathrynw5) January 16, 2020
Hey, a trump defender finally acknowledged a fact: this senator did exactly what manu says she did: ducked an obviously legit question by insulting the free press. https://t.co/lZFnDBbNwe
— Christopher C. Cuomo (@ChrisCuomo) January 16, 2020
UPDATE – 1:27 p.m. ET: CNN issued a formal reaction to McSally.
New statement from @CNNPR about McSally's comment to @mkraju:
"It is extremely unbecoming for a U.S. Senator to sink to this level and treat a member of the press this way for simply doing his job."
— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) January 16, 2020
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