Trump Clarifies After Accusing Democrat of Having Same Exact Position He Has: ‘At Least We Have Something in Common!’

Alex Brandon/AP Photo

President Donald Trump slammed Democratic U.S. Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed of Michigan for wanting to eliminate a Senate rule requiring 60 votes to advance most pieces of legislation, which is exactly what Trump has called for on multiple occasions.

Even though Republicans control the Senate 53-47, their legislative agenda has been hampered by the rule, which calls for three-fifths of the upper chamber to invoke what is known as cloture. More commonly, this is known as the filibuster, which is necessary for all bills to overcome, unless a bill involves mandatory federal spending. In those cases, a simple majority vote suffices, but this can only be done once a year.

Trump has repeatedly demanded that Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) end the practice, posting at one point, “GET RID OF THE FILIBUSTER.” The Senate could do so by changing its rules via a simple majority. In particular, Trump is seeking passage of the SAVE Act, which would require proof of citizenship when registered to vote and a photo ID when voting. However, Thune has told the president that he does not have the votes to do so.

On Thursday, Trump ripped El-Sayed and accused him of wanting to eliminate the filibuster, calling the prospect “CRAZY”:

For our Great Republican Senators, friends of mine “all,” please be advised that the Communist Dumocrat Senate Candidate from Michigan, Abdulrahman Mohamed El-Sayed, is touting, as perhaps his single most important point, the Termination of the Filibuster. I watched yesterday, and he’s gone Termination CRAZY. If he succeeds, the Dumocrats will gain 4 Senators, 8 Congressmen, many Electoral and Popular Votes, a stacked Supreme Court with 23 Justices, and I will be, sadly, despite the great job we are doing, the last Republican President! President DONALD J. TRUMP

A little more than 30 minutes later, it may have dawned on Trump that it seemed strange for him to accuse El-Sayed of wanting to get rid of the same Senate rule he does, posting:

Abdulrahman Mohamed El-Sayed wants to terminate the Filibuster, and so do I — At least we have something in common! President DONALD J. TRUMP

El-Sayed has called for abolishing the filibuster, saying it makes the Senate “the place where all legislation goes to die.”

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