Justin Amash Says Donald Trump’s Republican Defenders Are ‘Denying Reality’
Donald Trump’s attempt to pressure Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky to dig up dirt on Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden and his son, Hunter, using medical aid as leverage has sparked formal impeachment proceedings. The scandal has also drawn criticism from many, including Fox News’ legal expert Andrew Napolitano, who believes Trump’s phone call with Zelensky reveals an impeachable offense.
According to former Republican, now Independent Rep. Justin Amash, his former GOP colleagues are deliberately refusing to address the severity situation.
“They’re denying reality,” he reportedly said, according to HuffPost Congress reporter Matt Fuller via Twitter.
Amash also addressed the situation further on his personal Twitter account.
“Every day, President Trump and his defenders tell us not to believe our own eyes and ears. We read or hear the president’s words, and we’re told to reject the natural and ordinary meaning. We see evidence of wrongdoing, and we’re told it proves virtue.”
The Washington Examiner reports that Attorney General William Barr is working behind-the-scenes to protect Trump. According to Carl Bernstein, an investigative journalist who covered the Watergate scandal, Barr is attempted to create a narrative to links to Ukraine scandal to Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election. Bernstein claims that Barr is trying to create the impression that the scandal is part of a grander conspiracy perpetrated by the Democratic Party and the “deep state.”
Barr himself is implicated in the Ukraine scandal. In the transcript of Trump’s call with Zelensky, it reveals that Trump urged Zelensky to speak with Barr in addition to his personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani.
The former Republican now Independent @justinamash is a notable outlier on this scoreboard via @nytimes pic.twitter.com/kBAvEJsHRy
— Travis Sawchik (@Travis_Sawchik) September 26, 2019
The GOP’s continuous support of Trump in the face of seemingly every scandal fits with Amash’s previous criticism of the party. In an interview covered in Tim Alberta’s book, American Carnage: On the Front Lines of the Republican Civil War and the Rise of President Trump, Amash reveals that his break with the party was a long time coming and highlights his main problems with its direction.
“They believe in a cosmic battle between the right and the left, good and evil, and they think any criticism of Trump is helping the other side,” he said.
Amash believes this approach is wrong. He suggests that his former Republican colleagues are “harming the country” and themselves when they do whatever it takes to please Trump. The 39-year-old Michigan representative also believes that many of them are so subservient to Trump because they don’t want to lose their jobs.
