This Thursday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) announced that formal articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump would soon be coming, and at the end of her press conference, she faced a shouted question from conservative reporter James Rosen, who asked her if she “hates” the president. Pelosi promptly rebuked Rosen over the outlandish question, but rather than moving on, the reporter brought the issue up again when questioning House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) at his own press conference. In his questioning, Rosen questioned Pelosi’s explanation, including her Catholic faith guiding her not to hate anyone at all.
Rosen said to McCarthy:
‘I gather you were watching just now when the Speaker, in rather effusive terms, denied that there is any personal animus on her part that is motivating the impeachment drive. Representative Collins had suggested as much in the hearing yesterday… You probably also heard her invoke her Catholicism. Do you take the Speaker at her word? Do you believe her? Do you believe she’s telling the truth when she says she does not hate the president and that’s not what this is about?’
Watch:
Why is Pelosi’s religion a topic for questioning? This line of questioning constitutes another perhaps only slightly less brazen attempt to discredit the president’s opponents by any means necessary. Just the other day at a London NATO summit, President Trump himself derided House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) as a maniac in what ultimately constituted yet another embarrassing Trump meltdown in front of the world.
McCarthy mostly deflected. After a brief pause, he told Rosen:
‘Look, I’ll take them at their word. When Congresswoman Tlaib said on her very first day of Congress, of what she referred to the president, which I wouldn’t think anyone would want referred to them, that she was going to impeach him. Or when Adam Schiff continued to lie to the American public only to get to the point that they are today.’
After Rosen tried to dial McCarthy’s vaguely conspiratorial ramblings back down, the GOP leader continued:
‘I’ll take the Speaker at her word. But if she paused for a moment, and looked at just the facts, she would not have made that determination. If she paused and actually listened to the hearing yesterday… I think I have a hard time believing her.’
McCarthy also rambled on about a GOP witness who appeared at a public House Judiciary Committee hearing on Wednesday, but that witness — Jonathan Turley — was one out of four total witnesses, and many of his arguments were bad faith nonsense. For example, he complained that Democrats hadn’t gotten enough firsthand witnesses — but the president has demanded that administration officials not comply with Congressional subpoenas. So what exactly are they supposed to do?
No matter their complaints, the impeachment inquiry is continuing. Perhaps cognizant of the threats to his political career, this week, Trump actually acknowledged that he did ask Ukraine for a “favor” while discussing aid they’d been slated to get — but he claimed it was for the country’s benefit, or whatever, which is not supported by the evidence.
