President Donald Trump celebrated the impeachment acquittal delivered to him by the Republican-led Senate by saying a “bullshit” campaign to topple his presidency all began with “Russia, Russia, Russia.”
Trump railed against “evil,” “dirty cops,” “leakers,” “witch hunts,” “corrupt” actors, and “horrible” people Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.).
“We were treated unbelievably unfairly. You have to understand, we first went through ‘Russia, Russia, Russia’. It was all bullshit,” Trump said.
“Had I not fired James Comey, who was a disaster by the way, it’s possible I wouldn’t even be standing here right now. We caught him in the act. Dirty cops, bad people,” the president also said. “This should never ever happen to another President, ever.”
The Trump address to a room full of Republicans was basically a who’s who of individuals who supported the president throughout the impeachment inquiry and everything else (i.e., basically everyone but Mitt Romney). “Successful” Sen. Mike Braun (R-Ind.), “scary voice” Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), “the guy” Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), “difficult” Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), “fantastic” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), “Future Speaker of the House” House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), and many others got shoutouts from the president.
Braun, who has been pictured with Lev Parnas, was recently asked, “So you’re saying that it’s okay for a President to ask a foreign leader to investigate a political rival and withhold foreign aid to coerce him into doing so?”
He answered, “No, I’m not saying that’s okay. I’m not saying that’s appropriate. I’m saying that it didn’t happen.”
Grassley, immediately after the vote to acquit, requested Hunter Biden’s travel records.
Hawley introduced a resolution to change Senate rules and “allow dismissal of articles of impeachment for failure to prosecute.”
Lee blamed impeachment on the “deep state.”
McConnell engineered a Senate trial that did not include new witnesses and documents.
McCarthy tore up the articles of impeachment.
It seems none of these things went unnoticed. The president endorsed them all.
Trump also took a moment to acknowledge the work his legal team put in.
[Image via Fox News screengrab]