Trump blasts ‘Never Trump’ Republicans as ‘human scum’
President Trump on Wednesday excoriated so-called Never Trump Republicans as “human scum” as he seeks to solidify Republican support of him amid an ongoing impeachment inquiry.
He singled out his administration’s special envoy to Ukraine, William Taylor, who a day earlier sat for closed door testimony with those lawmakers the impeachment inquiry and delivered damaging testimony about the White House’s efforts to pressure Ukraine for political purposes.
“The Never Trumper Republicans, though on respirators with not many left, are in certain ways worse and more dangerous for our Country than the Do Nothing Democrats,” Trump tweeted. “Watch out for them, they are human scum!”
“Never Trumper Republican John Bellinger, represents Never Trumper Diplomat Bill Taylor (who I don’t know), in testimony before Congress!” Trump tweeted about 45 minutes later, bemoaning the lack of transparency in the impeachment proceedings thus far.
“It would be really great if the people within the Trump Administration, all well-meaning and good (I hope!), could stop hiring Never Trumpers, who are worse than the Do Nothing Democrats,” Trump added. “Nothing good will ever come from them!”
Trump earlier this week complained that Democrats leading the impeachment investigation were interviewing individuals he hadn’t heard of before launching into a tirade against the “Never Trumpers.”
“Don’t forget, many of these people were put there during Obama, during Clinton, during the Never Trump or Bush era,” Trump said at a Cabinet meeting on Monday. “You know, you had a Never Trump or Bush. You have heard of those? Those people might be worse than the Democrats — the Never Trumpers. The good news is they’re dying off fast.”
In the same Cabinet meeting, Trump called on Republicans to fight tougher in the impeachment inquiry.
The president’s tweet came as some of his Republican allies in the House had stormed a closed-door hearing to protest what they argued has been a lack of transparency in the Democrats’ impeachment inquiry process.
The furor broke up the deposition of a top Defense Department official who was testifying about Trump’s dealings with Ukraine.
The fracas also follows testimony from Taylor, who told committees just one day ago that Trump withheld military aid to Ukraine to pressure the country to conduct a pair of investigations — one into 2016 election hacking, the other into the family of former Vice President Joe Biden — that might have helped Trump’s reelection campaign next year.
Democrats viewed Taylor’s testimony as particularly damaging for the president, who has repeatedly denied a quid pro quo or any inappropriate interactions with the Ukrainians.
[The Hill]