“I would be acting as a juror,” Republican Senator Susan Collins (ME) explained to the press as to why she would not be prejudging President Trump ahead of a possible Senate impeachment trial. But that wasn’t a good enough reason, according to the way the folks on ABC’s Good Morning America were huffing on Sunday.
Amid his Sunday report, ABC correspondent David Wright touted Utah Senator Mitt Romney for being “the first Republican senator to criticize Trump's conduct directly.” “Last night Susan Collins of Maine cautiously joined Romney,” he added before saying she didn’t do it well enough: “Collins, who faces a tough re-election fight, called the President's appeal to China completely inappropriate, but wouldn't say whether Trump was out of line pressuring Ukraine to investigate the Bidens.”
“I would be acting as a juror as I did in the Clinton impeachment trial. So I don't want to prejudge the evidence. Plus not all the evidence is in yet,” Collins explained in the soundbite Wright shared.
Wright touted how “Democrats, not surprisingly, have been more vocal in their criticism especially the Democrats running for president against Trump.” He then played back-to-back soundbites of two Democratic Senators running for president:
SEN. AMY KLOBUCHAR (D-MN): This president has basically put his own business interests, his own political interests, his own partisan interests in front of this country.
SEN. KAMALA HARRIS (D-CA): Let's be clear. Essentially what we've got here is a walking indictment walking in a red tie.
Of course, there was no mention of the obvious conflict of interest the two Democratic representatives and six Democratic senators had when it came to possibly impeaching and trying their chief political opponent for president in 2020. That’s not to mention the other two representatives and one senator that have dropped out of the race.
“Members of Congress in both parties have been lying low during this recess trying to see which way the wind blows. But now, they're being pushed to take a stand,” Wright touted as he was wrapping up his report. “Democrats want to exploit the fact that many Republicans are reluctant to criticize the President. They hope to use that in their effort to retake the Senate.”
Wright seemed to let the cat out of the bag for ABC’s intentions with that last line.
Moments later, GMA co-anchor Dan Harris brought on chief political analyst Matthew Dowd who warned Trump that crossing Romney could lead to the Senator ruling against him in an impeachment trial:
I think the problem Donald Trump has with this is, if the House impeaches it goes to the Senate and Mitt Romney literally is a juror in the Senate to decide his fate. And my thought is always, you don't attack the jurors in such a way. They're going to make the decision on your case.
So, ABC was annoyed that GOP senators like Collins were holding back, then got excited that Romney could rule based on personal insults, despite no evidence of that.
Help fight back against the media's impeachment crusade.
The transcript is below, click "expand" to read:
ABC’s Good Morning America
October 6, 2019
8:05:34 a.m. Eastern(…)
DAVID WRIGHT: Romney had tweeted: “the President's brazen and unprecedented appeal to China and to Ukraine to investigate Joe Biden is wrong and appalling.”
He's the first Republican senator to criticize Trump's conduct directly. Last night Susan Collins of Maine cautiously joined Romney. Collins, who faces a tough re-election fight, called the President's appeal to China completely inappropriate, but wouldn't say whether Trump was out of line pressuring Ukraine to investigate the Bidens.
SEN. SUSAN COLLINS (R-ME): I would be acting as a juror as I did in the Clinton impeachment trial. So I don't want to prejudge the evidence. Plus not all the evidence is in yet.
WRIGHT: Democrats, not surprisingly, have been more vocal in their criticism especially the Democrats running for president against Trump.
SEN. AMY KLOBUCHAR (D-MN): This president has basically put his own business interests, his own political interests, his own partisan interests in front of this country.
SEN. KAMALA HARRIS (D-CA): Let's be clear. Essentially what we've got here is a walking indictment walking in a red tie.
(…)
8:07:13 a.m. Eastern
WRIGHT: Members of Congress in both parties have been lying low during this recess trying to see which way the wind blows. But now, they're being pushed to take a stand. Democrats want to exploit the fact that many Republicans are reluctant to criticize the President. They hope to use that in their effort to retake the Senate. Meanwhile, the White House is pushing for a full House vote on impeachment in part to force Democrats running in Trump-friendly districts to go on the record supporting impeachment. Dan.
DAN HARRIS: It is a tricky political calculation for a lot of these members.
(…)
8:08:24 a.m. Eastern
MATTHEW DOWD: I think the problem Donald Trump has with this is, if the House impeaches it goes to the Senate and Mitt Romney literally is a juror in the Senate to decide his fate. And my thought is always, you don't attack the jurors in such a way. They're going to make the decision on your case.
(…)
