The surprising announcement on Tuesday morning that President-elect Donald Trump won’t pursue charges against Hillary Clinton led some major publications to act as though there is near universal revolt among Trump’s stanchest supporters. While it is undeniably true that some Trump supporters were caught off guard by the decision, not all are truly upset. In fact, one of the most outspoken Trump backers, Bill Mitchell, a well-known radio host, is actually praising Trump’s decision. He contends this actually might have “just rope-a-doped Obama into not pardoning Hillary.”
During an appearance Tuesday morning on Morning Joe, top Trump transition team aide Kellyanne Conway told the panel Donald Trump was focused on moving “beyond the issues of the campaign” and suggested that strategy did not prioritize the prosecution of Hillary Clinton.
“I think Hillary Clinton still has to face the fact that a majority of Americans don’t find her to be honest and trustworthy,” Conway told the Morning Joe panel, “but if Donald Trump can help her heal, then perhaps that’s a good thing.”
Conway also suggested fellow Republicans would fall in line, saying this type of announcement from the Republican President-elect “sends a very strong message tone and content to the members” of the party.
The surprising announcement is already leading major publications, including The New York Times, to write articles suggesting Trump is backing away from a major campaign promise and angering supporters in the process. Judging by The Times report, one gets the impression that Republicans may not just fall in line as Conway suggested.
A tweet from Ann Coulter is prominently featured at the top of the article, in which she expresses her frustration:
Whoa! I thought we elected @realDonaldTrump president. Did we make him the FBI, & DOJ? His job is to pick those guys, not do their jobs. https://t.co/8JCQOO0dSF
— Ann Coulter (@AnnCoulter) November 22, 2016
The government watchdog group Judicial Watch also put out a strong statement saying Trump must commit to an “independent investigation of the very serious Clinton national security, email, and pay-to-play scandals.” The failure to do so would be “a betrayal of his promise to the American people to ‘drain the swamp’ of out-of-control corruption in Washington, DC.”
However, as previously mentioned, one of the most outspoken Trump supporters, Bill Mitchell, seems to completely disagree with the criticisms of Trump’s decision. In fact, he suggested the “knee jerk” reactions completely missed the bigger picture:
In my experience, all anyone ever gets from a knee-jerk response to Trump is a sore knee.
— Bill Mitchell (@mitchellvii) November 22, 2016
Just for the record. I COMPLETELY AGREE with Trump’s Hillary strategy. It gives him the most options while limiting his opponents.
— Bill Mitchell (@mitchellvii) November 22, 2016
He further explained he reasoning in a series of additional tweets:
All Trump is saying is, “I will not unduly influence the actions of the FBI and AG in their pursuit of justice.” This is as it should be.
— Bill Mitchell (@mitchellvii) November 22, 2016
I don’t get it. We screamed about Obama manipulating the FBI and AG and now we WANT Trump to? No, he is playing this perfectly.
— Bill Mitchell (@mitchellvii) November 22, 2016
By stepping away from personally pursuing Hillary, Trump de-politicizes it while showing an independent and fair FBI and AG. #twobirds
— Bill Mitchell (@mitchellvii) November 22, 2016
I don’t know about you, but I like the idea of an independent, non-politicized AG and FBI. That’s a really big gator.
— Bill Mitchell (@mitchellvii) November 22, 2016
Part of #drainingtheswamp is to end inter-agency corruption. By Trump allowing the AG and FBI to operate independently, he does that.
— Bill Mitchell (@mitchellvii) November 22, 2016
Trump may have just rope-a-doped Obama into not pardoning Hillary.
— Bill Mitchell (@mitchellvii) November 22, 2016
[image via screengrab]
