On Wednesday’s episode of “The View,” host Meghan McCain spoke out to slam former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley, saying that it was “disgusting” for her to call for Trump to be given a “break” when it comes to the Capitol riots last month.
Haley’s Initial Comment
“They beat him up before he got into office and they’re beating him up after he leaves office,” Haley said at the end of January, according to Newsweek.
“I mean at some point, give the man a break. I mean, move on if you truly are about moving on,” she added.
McCain brought this up today while discussing the current impeachment effort.
McCain Lashes Out
“One thing that struck me was seeing President Trump talk about Mike Pence at his rally, and cutting to the footage of the people storming the Capitol and the vice president having to be rushed out immediately,” she said.
“Words have ramification. The rhetoric we put out have ramifications,” McCain added. “You can see in realtime what happens when you call Vice President Mike Pence a traitor, and then people are storming the Capitol screaming ‘Traitor Pence.’
“It’s something out of a dystopian science fiction movie,” she said.
“I don’t understand how anyone could vote against impeachment, but I do logically when it comes to the politics— the ethics I don’t understand — but the politics of this is Republicans want to move on,” McCain added. ”
“They want to walk the fine line of still being attached to Trump and not being attached to Trump. Nikki Haley said maybe in the most disgusting language I’ve ever heard, ‘Give the guy a break,” McCain said. “Well, it’s hard for me to give President Trump a break when our vice president could have been killed because of the things he was saying.”
“I think that I would love to see more Republicans come out and do the right thing ethically, but politics is going to come in the middle of this,” she concluded.
This piece was written by James Samson on February 11, 2021. It originally appeared in LifeZette and is used by permission.
The second day of former President Trump's historic second impeachment trial saw House managers reveal grim new videos and recordings of the deadly Capitol attack on January 6. These videos are featured in today's Eye Opener.
The House impeachment managers will continue their case Thursday, after making their argument over the last two days that Trump should be convicted of inciting an insurrection on the Capitol.
Sen. Tommy Tuberville revealed late Wednesday that he spoke to Donald Trump on Jan. 6, just as a violent mob closed in on the the Senate, and informed the then-president directly that Vice President Mike Pence had just been evacuated from the chamber.
“I said ‘Mr. President, they just took the vice president out, I’ve got to go,'” Tuberville (R-Ala.) told reporters on Capitol Hill on Wednesday night, saying he cut the phone call short amid the chaos.
The existence of the phone call had been previously reported, but the detail that Tuberville informed Trump his vice president was in danger is a new and potentially significant development for House prosecutors seeking Trump’s conviction: it occurred just around the time that Trump sent a tweet attacking Pence for not having “the courage” to unilaterally stop Joe Biden’s victory. And Trump never indicated publicly that he was aware of Pence’s plight, even hours after Tuberville says he told him.
It’s long been unclear precisely when Trump learned of the danger that Congress and his vice president faced — though it was broadcast all over live television — but Tuberville’s claim would mark a specific moment Trump was notified that Pence had to be evacuated for his own safety.
Aides to the former president did not immediately return a request for comment.
The House impeached Trump last month for inciting the Jan. 6 insurrection and began mounting their case in the trial Wednesday, the first of two days to present their evidence. The Tuberville call was among their examples to show that Trump remained fixated on stopping Biden’s victory even as it became clear that a mob devoted to him was ransacking the Capitol. Trump, they said, did nothing to publicly call off the rioters and instead called Tuberville to continue his effort to stop the transition of power.
The phone call itself figured into the House impeachment managers' case against Trump, detailed during Wednesday’s Senate trial arguments. The managers noted that while a mob encroached on the Senate chamber, Trump was ignoring his allies’ pleas for him to publicly call them off. Instead, Trump accidentally phoned Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) as he sought to get in touch with Tuberville to request that the Alabama senator continue objecting to the election results in order to buy time. Lee, according to reports in Utah’s Deseret News and CNN, passed his phone to the newly elected lawmaker for the brief call.
House managers say the call took place shortly after 2 p.m. Pence was evacuated from the chamber at about 2:15 p.m. and Trump sent his tweet attacking Pence at 2:24 pm. The entire Senate was cleared by about 2:30pm.
Good luck to his replacement, Mr.—[checks notes]—Rabid Hyena with Mange.
Cheers and Jeers for Thursday, February 11, 2021
Note: This is a friendly reminder that February is officially designated Bird Feeding Month. Please remember to fill your bird feeders all the way to the top every day with a fine assortment of nuts and seeds. Especially cashews and almonds. In fact, you can skip the seeds, actually. Nuts would be perfect. Thank you for your attention in this matter. In fact, you should go fill it right now. Go, bird feeders, you rock! —The Squirrels
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By the Numbers:
Federal exchange re-opens in 4 days. Thanks, Joe.
Days 'til the federal health exchange re-opens for people who need coverage via Healthcare.gov: 4
Joe Biden's approval rating in FiveThirtyEight's daily tracking poll: 54.5%
Minimum number of arrests made so far in 43 states from the Republican insurrection at the Capitol: 211
Support among Americans polled by CBS News for the Covid relief package Democrats are assembling: 83%
Drop in Covid-19 cases at nursing homes where vaccinations have occurred, according to AP: 48%
Drop in Covid-19 cases at nursing homes where vaccinations have not occurred: 21%
Year Skee-Ball was invented and patented by Joseph Fourestier Simpson: 1908
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Your Thursday Molly Ivins Moment:
What the Europeans are trying to say is not that they think Saddam Hussein is harmless—we've got near-universal agreement that the man is a miserable SOB, including, as near as one can tell, from most Iraqis.
The difference is over how to handle him, and the United States has put itself in the unfortunate position of looking as though we'd rather go to war, unprovoked, than work at a way to de-fang Hussein peacefully. It is this bellicosity that is so unbecoming to us and so troubling to many of our allies. Why this disdainful dismissal of a peaceful alternative?
It seems to me quite reasonable that friends might differ over whether Hussein is better handled by invasion or by containment. Why this should lead directly to our throwing around names likes "Euroweenies" and "EUnuchs" is beyond me.
—February, 2003
CHEERS to Day 2. Wow, what a presentation. The Democratic impeachment managers cracked open a can of cold, fact-based whupass yesterday during their arguments in the second trial of one-term President Donald Trump. It was brutal. Hour after hour of broadsides fired directly at the inciter of the January 6 insurrection, mercilessly raking the sides of his tattered criminal enterprise until they… okay okay, you got me, I didn’t watch any of it except a few minutes at lunch. I'm sorry!!! But if it's any consolation, I did watch this, and I don't care what anybody says that counts the same. Does too! Does too!
Thursday's agenda brings a bit of hallowed tradition with it. Per the Constitution, Day 3's proceedings must briefly pause at exactly 4:20 so the senators can line up and take a ceremonial hit off Ben Franklin's bong. Moments later, Lindsey Graham will crack his first smile in 20 years.
CHEERS to getting the job done. Meanwhile, over at 1600, the White House is kickin' Covid ahead of schedule:
President Joe Biden is on track to meet his goal of administering 100 million Covid-19 shots in his first100 days in office, White House coronavirus coordinator Jeffrey Zients said Wednesday. […]
The reason President Biden is fighting so hard for Americans’ right to bare arms.
"We've been making steady progress over the past few weeks: getting more vaccine supply, getting more vaccinators on the ground and creating more places to get vaccinated. We are on track to meet the president's goal of delivering 100 million shots in his first 100days," Zients said at a Wednesday press briefing.
Competence has a liberal bias. Who knew, besides all of us?
CHEERS to the guy who really was the brightest bulb in the box. Happy 174th Birthday—and many blessings on your tungsten filaments—to fellow Ohio native Thomas Edison. He invented the light bulb, the phonograph, the Snuggie and the ShamWOW! (the last two during his slow descent into madness). Pay your respects here. Today is also Sarah Palin's birthday—she turns 57. Or as she likes to put it: just another orbit of the sun around the earth.
CHEERS to caffeine in the clear. On January 11, 1992, a study said that drinking three cups of coffee a day does not raise the risk of heart disease. But it does raise your risk of peeing like a racehorse every five minutes.
CHEERS to notes notes. The latest batch of nominees vying for induction in the Rock and Roll Hall of Famewas announced yesterday, and they are:
Mary J. Blige, Kate Bush, Devo, Foo Fighters, the Go-Go’s, Iron Maiden, Jay-Z, Chaka Khan, Carole King, Fela Kuti, LL Cool J, New York Dolls, Rage Against the Machine, Todd Rundgren, Tina Turner, and Dionne Warwick. [...]
Of the nominees, several are first-timers. Foo Fighters and Jay-Z are being recognized in their first year of eligibility, while Blige, the Go-Go’s, Kuti, and Warwick are receiving their inaugural nods.
Due to the ongoing pandemic, the Hall was forced to permanently push back the timeframe of future ceremonies. Starting with the current 2021 class, the nominating and voting process will occur in February and May, respectively, and culminate in a fall ceremony.
CHEERS to 2/11/11. Freedooooooooom!!! Happy Liberation Day in Egypt, everybody. Haven't seen anything like it since the Berlin Wall came down, and what an amazing scene—sheer giddiness. So what happens now? Pretty simple, really: just establish a new government that empowers citizens to be the best they can be and find a George Washington-like figure to lead it. Now, I'm no expert on Egypt, but I'd still like to think my New England common sense makes me qualified to at least suggest a successor to He-Who-Fled. There's only one person I can think of who possesses a unique combination of patriotism, intellect, likeability, and a proven track record of getting stuff done under tough circumstances (snakes, Nazis, "bad dates"). I hereby nominate…Sallah. Slam dunk, I tell ya.
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And just one more…
JEERS to the Edsel of House committees. True fact: if you're in Washington and you visit the dumpster next to the House parking lot, you'll still see smoke wafting up from the remnants of Trey Gowdy's Benghazi investigation. I think it's worth reminding the world that seven years ago today, the non-scandal that Republicans and Fox News branded "worse than Watergate" jumped the shark:
In a new report released on Tuesday, the House Armed Services Committee concludes that there was no way for the U.S. military to have responded in time to the 2012 terrorist attack in Benghazi, Libya to save the four Americans killed that night.
Her other hand is tied behind her back to make it a fair fight.
In doing so, the report debunks entirely a right-wing myth that says the White House ordered the military not to intervene. […]
Fox News cited reports of a stand-down orderno fewer than 85 times during prime-time segments as of June 2013. As the new report—which the Republican majority of the committee authored—makes very clear in its findings, however, no such order ever existed.
Today, when he’s not futilely auditioning for a Fox News anchor slot, the only reports Gowdy writes are the employee reviews down at the Pawpatch City Burger King. ("Gary still struggling with fry vat. Will scream harder at him to improve performance.")
Have a nice Thursday. Floor's open...What are you cheering and jeering about today?
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Today's Shameless C&J Testimonial
Even Alan Dershowitz is stunned by Bill in Portland Maine's Cheers and Jeers: "I have no idea what he's doing."
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) isn’t pressuring fellow Republicans to acquit former President Trump as the impeachment trial appears poised to wrap as soon as this weekend.GOP senators have discussed their individual views about the...
House impeachment managers will finish arguing their case on Thursday that former President Donald Trump incited an insurrection one day after they showed violent and disturbing video footage of the attack on the US Capitol as they urged senators to convict at the Senate trial.
Sen. Lindsay Graham, R-S.C., told “Hannity” on Wednesday that the Democrat case for impeachment against former President Trump is getting weaker by the day, and pointed to new details about the days before the Capitol riot and questioned what-- if anything-- House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was privy to.
