GOP Senator Says Donald Trump Is Just ‘Human’ & Will ‘Make Mistakes,’ Including Soliciting Foreign Assistance

Alabama Senator Richard Shelby spoke to ABC’s George Stephanopoulos on Sunday, and when asked what he thought about Donald Trump’s reported attempts to solicit foreign interference in the coming 2020 election, the Republican dismissed any wrongdoing by saying that the president is just “human” and will “make mistakes.”

Trump’s legal team argued that even if the facts show that the president attempted to pressure Ukraine to investigate his chief political opponent, constituting an abuse of power, it still wouldn’t be an impeachable offense, according to The Hill. When asked if he agreed, Shelby hesitated, saying that the allegations against Trump are still under dispute.

“Well, I don’t know that has actually been proven. That’s all in dispute. I’ve never seen anything where Trump was actually involved in it,” Shelby said.

Stephanopoulos pushed back, saying that there does seem to be ample evidence that Trump did attempt to work with foreign governments for his own personal benefit.

“We’ve seen the president in public ask the Ukrainians to get involved, asked the Chinese to get involved,” he pointed out.

“Well, those are just statements, political. They make them all the time,” Shelby responded.

The This Week host then asked if that meant it was acceptable to ask for foreign help.

“I didn’t say it was OK. People do things, things happen,” he said, adding that the president is only “human” and therefore prone to “mistakes of judgement.”

The impeachment trial against the president got under way this week after the House turned over two articles of impeachment against him – one for abusing the power of the office of the president and one for obstructing Congress. The House alleges that Trump used his office to withhold aid from Ukraine in order to pressure President Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate Joe Biden and his son, Hunter Biden.

The inquiry focuses on a July 25 phone call during which Trump is accused of inappropriate conduct, though the president maintains that the phone call was “perfect.”

To represent him in the trial, Trump has tapped several famous faces, including Alan Dershowitz and Ken Starr. But some critics say that his choice of representation could harm him in the long run, as The Inquisitr reported earlier this week. Experts argue that Trump’s “reality show” legal team comes with baggage of their own that could serve to undermine his defense, saying that the decision “is something that potentially is going to backfire.”