CNN’s Abby Phillip Slams Mitch McConnell For Trying to Have His Cake and Eat It Too

CNN Senior Political Correspondent Abby Phillip excoriated Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) for his vote to acquit former President Donald Trump in his second impeachment trial, only to then deliver a speech condemning Trump’s conduct, calling McConnell out for essentially trying to have his cake and eat it too.

Anchor Dana Bash began the segment talking about Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-CA) infuriated tone at a press conference earlier Saturday, reacting to McConnell’s actions.

Pelosi “was so incensed, so angry, understandably so,” said Bash, “given the fact that she really would have given the Impeachment Article to the Senate had she not heard pretty clearly, like we all heard, from Mitch McConnell when he was still in charge of the schedule of the Senate, that he wasn’t going to bring them back from recess.”

Phillip agreed, saying that “[i]t was sort of like a last dagger at the Democrats from McConnell to basically make the House Impeachment Managers’ case for them and then vote to acquit.”

She then noted that House Lead Impeachment Manager Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) had made the point that the Senate had already determined the constitutionality issue, but she “cannot imagine another situation in which McConnell would completely put aside the precedent set in his own body in order to make a completely separate judgment of his own about the constitutionality of something that they were about to do”.

“But he did it because he wanted to be able to do both things, wanted to be able to say, ‘I don’t think we should, you know, vote to convict Trump,’ but also condemn it,” concluded Phillip. “You cannot have it both ways on this issue no matter how hard he tries.”

Watch the video above, via CNN.