Former House Republican Blasts Kevin McCarthy’s ‘Absurd Argument’ Defending Trump Against Election Indictment: ‘Pure Theater’
Former Rep. Mark Sanford (R-SC), who served with Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) until 2019, blasted the now-speaker of the House over his histrionic defense of Donald Trump.
The former president was arraigned last week on four federal counts related to his attempts to overturn the 2020 presidential election, which he falsely claims was rigged against him. It is one of three indictments Trump faces in as many jurisdictions, including another one in federal court. He has pleaded not guilty to all counts.
Appearing on Thursday AC360, Sanford was shown a clip of McCarthy reacting to Trump’s arraignment last week.
“I could say the same thing that Hillary Clinton says about her election that she lost,” the speaker said. “I can say the same thing about the DNC, who said it about the 2016 race. I can say the same thing about those in the Democratic Party from the leadership on down about George Bush not winning, that Al Gore did. But were any of them prosecuted? Were any of them put in jail? Were any of them held with no response to be able to get out? The answer is no… You shouldn’t be prosecuted for your thoughts. And the difference here is when Hillary Clinton said it, nothing happened to her! When they said it in Georgia’s election, nothing happened to them either!”
Republicans have falsely maintained that Trump has been charged for exercising his First Amendment right to free speech, but that is not the case.
Guest host John Berman noted that Clinton and Gore conceded their races, which Trump has not done.
“Why do you think Kevin Mccarthy is talking like this?” he asked Sanford.
“Because he wants to stay relevant in politics,” he replied. “You saw the… elevated emotion that he just showed. Pure theater. I mean, that’s an absurd argument. At the end of the day – to your point – they both conceded those elections. And to compare that somehow with folks storming the Capitol, breaking into a building where I worked for 12 years of my life is an absurd comparison.”
He added, “Kevin McCarthy will twist himself in knots to stay relevant with the Trump base.”
Watch above via CNN.
