Bianna Golodryga hosted Wednesday’s edition of Amanpour & Co. (airing on CNN International and tax-funded PBS) and commiserated with William Cohen, former “Republican” Defense Secretary to Democratic president Bill Clinton, about the awful state of the Republican Party in the wake of Donald Trump’s third indictment, related to the January 6 riots.
Golodryga: ….Let's start with the news that former President Trump expects to be indicted. This according to his own post on social media, related to efforts, the investigation into efforts to overturn the 2020 election. Your thoughts on that?
The host took care to label Cohen “the Republican Secretary of Defense under President Bill Clinton.” (He’s also a founding member of the new group angrily challenging the third-party movement “No Labels” because they believe that would elect Trump again.)
Cohen praised Trump’s indictment as reaffirming “we are committed to the rule of law.”
Cohen: ….I don’t know what the charge is going to be, but I think it was the most serious because it was an assault upon our democracy. It was an attempt to impose a dictatorship, abandon the rule of law, do everything by sheer power. And, that’s a fascist form of government, and if Mr. Trump in his most recent statements has said he wants to clean out everyone out of Washington who does not support him. It means eliminating all of our State Department personnel, intelligence personnel, military personnel, so he can be the dictator and chief. I think it’s a very, very dangerous concept for anyone to propose, but apparently he is committed to that.
(The New York Times front page Monday blared that Trump would want to expand executive branch authority over government, something all presidents have tried to do. It’s an American political tradition, not dawning “fascism” as hysterical Cohen would have it.)
Golodryga egged Cohen on.
Golodryga: So given what you have just laid out, on top of news, potentially another indictment, what does it say about the party and the country that as of right now he is the frontrunner for the Republican nomination for president?
Cohen: For me, it says that the Republican Party no longer believes in the rule of law. It’s been demonstrated by them over and over again, refusing to hold him accountable, refusing to say this past election of President Biden was not stolen….
….
Golodryga: Let’s turn now to Washington, where the Senate is going to start debate on the Defense Authorization Act. And obviously, whatever bill they end up passing will look certainly different from the one that was passed by the party-line vote in the Republican-controlled House, where conservative lawmakers really added several amendments that were centered on abortion, transgender rights, and inclusion initiatives. As a former defense secretary, does it surprise you that these issues are jeopardizing funding for the U.S. Military?
Next, they discussed Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville’s hold on promotions related to his opposition to Defense Department policy that pays travel expenses for members of the military traveling out of state seeking an abortion. She aired a left-wing Congressman’s views and invited Cohen to agree.
Golodryga: Well, given that this is a voluntary military, Democrats are saying that these ideas from Republicans, specifically over the issues of abortion, will hurt recruitment. Listen to what Hakeem Jeffries said on this issue.
Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY): In a society, you have to have all hands on deck. Every corner of society should feel welcome in the military. We have to recruit from every segment of society in order to make sure that we’re prepared, in an increasingly dangerous world.
Golodryga: Do you agree, with Representative Jeffries? Do you think that this would impact recruitment potentially?
Cohen, who sounded nothing like any kind of Republican during the interview, replied by comparing previous racial discrimination in the military with discriminating against transgenders.
This biased segment was brought to you in part by Mutual of America Financial Group.
