Twitter explodes at prospect of Trump incriminating himself by testifying in impeachment hearings
The day after top Democratic leaders House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) challenged Donald Trump to testify before the House impeachment inquiry if he was so dissatisfied with the veracity of the incriminating facts that have been uncovered thus far by the hearings, the president declared that he just might take them up on their offer.
….that I testify about the phony Impeachment Witch Hunt. She also said I could do it in writing. Even though I did nothing wrong, and don’t like giving credibility to this No Due Process Hoax, I like the idea & will, in order to get Congress focused again, strongly consider it!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 18, 2019
Prefacing his statement with a vicious personal attack on the House Speaker and Denouncing the left, the media, and the program Pelosi appeared on when making her taunting offer, Trump said he would “strongly consider” testifying, a qualified and non-binding response, rather than actually committing to doing so.
Trump’s suggestion that he is considering the idea is likely to carry little weight given that he has reversed or ignored so many previous actions that he was seriously mulling, such as disclosing his tax returns, enacting stronger gun control measures — an idea inspired by the epidemic of mass shootings in this country that disappeared after the NRA stepped in — and banning flavored vape cartridges to prevent marketing appeal to teenagers — a policy abandoned just today after pressure from corporate interests.
Many of the people responding to Trump’s tweet were skeptical of the president’s sincerity and chalked up his statement to more defensive partisan bluster.
Trump is not thinking rationally any longer about anything. His kids are telling him what to do for their own profit and running the country. Take them out of the picture and watch what happens in the WH. His family needs to be indicted. Talk about Biden’s son, Trump is worse. pic.twitter.com/r0VOxbAVEf
— Don (@Don27326431) November 18, 2019
https://twitter.com/BigMacky_yo/status/1196476997750403078?s=20
let's un-Fox this tweet:
1. the House has passed over 350 bills 2019 including all legislation cited above by our day-glow orange president. Mitch McConnell has allowed exactly 0 of them to be brought to a vote in the Senate
2. there is no 'due process' in an impeachment inquiry— Jeff Tiedrich (@itsJeffTiedrich) November 18, 2019
He'd just lie under oath.
— LaDonna James (@LaDonnaJames12) November 18, 2019
While you’re at it, since you did nothing wrong, how about letting@AmbJohnBolton testify?
And @SecPompeo?
We’d also love to hear from @MickMulvaneyOMB, @RudyGiuliani and @VP
Let’s get it ALL out
Or don’t you have the nerve?#IDareTrumpToTestify#ImpeachAndRemove#DemCast
— Adam Cohen Lawyers for Good Government #DemCast (@axidentaliberal) November 18, 2019
https://twitter.com/ChrisJZullo/status/1196460420409831424?s=20
https://twitter.com/BBayconich/status/1196466586560991232?s=20
Political betting sites have yet to list the odds on Trump actually testifying, but given the public reaction to Trump’s statement and his past record, the odds will likely be stacked heavily against Trump even giving written testimony to the impeachment inquiry.
Outside of PR value, Trump’s propensity for compulsive exaggeration and outright lies can only lead to further impeachable offenses if he does testify, offenses that he will quickly condemn as unjustified and the results of a partisan witch hunt as he continues to dwell in his parallel universe of an alternate reality.
Follow Vinnie Longobardo on Twitter.
