Arizona Senator Martha McSally was walking toward a room in the Dirksen Senate Office Building when she encountered reporter Manu Raju. Raju asked McSally if she and other senators should "consider new evidence" in President Trump's impeachment trial. The senator responded by saying she would not entertain the question, calling Raju a "liberal hack."
Later on CNN, journalists Jake Tapper and Dana Bash defended Raju, and anchor Wolf Blitzer interviewed the reporter about the interaction.
Raju told Blitzer he has not received an apology from McSally or her office.
"If they did the right thing, she would personally call you and say 'I'm sorry' -- it was an awful thing she did," Blitzer said.
CNN’s reporter Manu Raju tweeted that Arizona Senator Martha McSally called him a hack when he asked about the new impeachment information the House is sending over to the Senate:
McSally just responded to Raju on Twitter, saying he is a liberal hack and then provided video of the exchange:
Sen. Martha McSally, a Republican facing a difficult election race, lashed out when I asked if she would consider new evidence as part of the Senate trial. “You’re a liberal hack - I’m not talking to you. You’re a liberal hack.” She then walked into a hearing room.— Manu Raju (@mkraju) January 16, 2020
McSally just responded to Raju on Twitter, saying he is a liberal hack and then provided video of the exchange:
A) you are.— Martha McSally (@SenMcSallyAZ) January 16, 2020
B) here’s the video. https://t.co/zVgk9pBhdf pic.twitter.com/cfFdotLjFK
Wow, that’s hilarious. Honestly I wouldn’t have expected that from McSally but I love it. She could have walked by in silence and ignored him but instead she chose to call him out.
That ballsy exchange might just earn her the coveted Trump endorsement for her special election this year in order to keep the Arizona Senate seat given her after John McCain’s death. I’m sure Trump will love it…
FOX NEWS HOST PRESSES GOP SENATOR ON CNN REPORTER'S QUESTION ON TRUMP IMPEACHMENT WITNESSES: 'YOU CAN CALL ME A CONSERVATIVE HACK'
ReplyDeleteRepublican Senator Martha McSally, who dubbed a CNN reporter a "liberal hack" over a question about potential witnesses and evidence in President Donald Trump's impeachment trial, danced around the question when pressed Thursday evening by Fox News' Laura Ingraham.
Democrats and reporters were quick to criticize McSally, a former Air Force combat fighter pilot who was appointed in December 2018 by Arizona's governor to fill the late John McCain's seat, for labeling CNN's Manu Raju a "liberal hack" on Thursday. He had asked her if newly revealed—and damning—evidence against Trump should be considered during the trial that will begin in earnest on Tuesday.
"Manu, you're a liberal hack. I'm not talking to you," she said. "You're a liberal hack."
Pressed by Ingraham later that night, McSally offered a vague answer. "I want a fair trial," she said.
"You're not gonna play the game with me," the Fox talk show host responded. "You can call me a conservative hack, but do you want witnesses, yes or no? Why aren't you telling us?"
McSally said it was because the Senate plans to vote Tuesday on a resolution presented by Senate Majority Mitch McConnell that will lay out the rules to govern the trial, which will allow for later consideration of witnesses. But Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has promised to force a vote on summoning several witnesses believed to have firsthand knowledge of Trump's Ukraine dealings, including former national security adviser John Bolton and acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney, at the trial's outset on Tuesday.
"We're going to vote on Tuesday to start the trial and let them present the prosecution... We're gonna get to [witnesses]," McSally said, dodging Ingraham's question on how she'll vote. "I'm not going to tell everybody what my vote is going to be."
"Pretty easy question, wouldn't you say, senator?" Ingraham said.
McSally responded: "I think we'll proceed to a final vote, I hope with strong unity, after Phase One is complete."
Like McSally, other Senate Republicans are dismissive of the new evidence involving Trump's dealings with Ukraine, which is at the heart of his impeachment. Specifically, a government watchdog agency has concluded that Trump violated the law by withholding military aid from Ukraine. Also, new evidence from an indicted associate of Rudy Giuliani, Trump's personal lawyer, further exposed Trump's efforts to remove a former ambassador and pressure Ukraine to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter.
In her Fox interview, McSally doubled down on her criticism of CNN, accusing the network of "cheerleading the Democrats" and saying they "hate the president." She also claimed the network is prejudiced against Republicans.
"As you know, these CNN reporters, many of them around the Capitol, they are so biased, they are so in cahoots with the Democrats. They so can't stand the president, and they run around trying to chase Republicans and ask trapping questions," McSally claimed.
"I'm a fighter pilot. I called it like it is," she continued. "And that's what we see out of the mainstream media—and especially CNN—every single day. Obviously, I'm going to tell the truth. I did it today, and it's laughable how they've responded."
In a statement about McSally's characterization of Raju, CNN said: "It is extremely unbecoming for a U.S. senator to sink to this level and treat a member of the press this way for simply doing his job."
The campaigns of Trump and McSally quickly seized on the opportunity to raise money off the attention she received from criticizing a CNN reporter.
McSally Slams CNN, but Gets Pressed on Fox News
ReplyDeleteMcSally made some impeachment news of her own Thursday when she rejected a question from CNN reporter Manu Raju and called him a "liberal hack." The conservative Arizona senator even tweeted a video of their exchange, in which Raju attempted to ask her in a hallway whether the Senate should consider new evidence in the impeachment trial. The encounter has led to lots of reaction:
Doubling down: Wolf Blitzer of CNN said McSally owed Raju an apology for her "awful" behavior, reports Fox News. But McSally rejected that in an appearance on the Ingraham Angle on Fox. "You know, these CNN reporters, many of them around the capital, they are so biased," she said, per Mediaite. "They are so in cahoots with the Democrats, they so can’t stand the president, and they run around trying to chase Republicans and asked trapping questions. I’m a fighter pilot. I called it like it is."
Not answering: Host Laura Ingraham was sympathetic to that point, but she pressed McSally to answer Raju's question. “You can call me a conservative hack, but do you want witnesses, yes or no?" Ingraham asked. She posed the question multiple times ("Pretty easy question, don't you think, senator?") but McSally would not answer directly. “We are going to get to that," she said. "I’m not going to tell everybody what all my votes are gonna be." Eventually, McSally said that if Democrats were allowed to call witnesses, then Trump's legal team should get to call some of their own, per Business Insider.
From the left: At the Washington Post, Greg Sargent is incredulous at the initial exchange. "Note that it is now seen as 'liberal' to merely ask a Republican senator whether she feels any obligation to consider the full set of facts before exercising her constitutional duty to vote on whether articles of impeachment—passed by the elected representatives in the other chamber of Congress—merit removal," he writes.
From the right: The exchange "reflects three years of mounting frustration with an overtly partisan media, exemplified by CNN, which has dropped any pretense of fairness and become an organ of the Democratic Party," writes David Harsanyi at the New York Post. He complains that "virtually all questions posed by political reporters these days are framed to support the narratives and assumptions of one political party, the Democrats."
Calculated? In a piece headlined "The McSally Maneuver" at the Bulwark, a critical Tim Miller writes that McSally's impeachment options are limited. Sure, she could buck her party and vote to hear new witnesses, he writes. "Alternately, she can refuse to engage this impeachment on the merits, reject all additional information that could embarrass Trump, (and) flip the bird to the 'fake news media.'" He points out that her Senate seat is vulnerable, and Republicans already are fundraising for her off this incident. "So which door did you think she was going to pick?"
Please, CNN: Brad Slager at the conservative RedState mocks CNN's "full meltdown" over the matter. "It is becoming increasingly obvious that the very worst thing that can possibly happen to a contemporary journalist—at least those working for the cable networks—is that someone dares insult their ego." He poses a question of his own to the network: "Is it considered unbecoming by you that Manu Raju’s question was essentially a direct talking point of the Democrats this week?"
The race: In November, McSally is facing Democrat Mark Kelly, a former astronaut who is the husband of former congresswoman Gabby Giffords. He currently has a slim lead in the polls, per Real Clear Politics.