Robert Mueller Should Investigate DOJ, FBI, And Hillary Clinton, Former GOP Senator Rick Santorum Claims
Former Republican Senator Rick Santorum argued Sunday that special counsel Robert Mueller should investigate the Department of Justice, as well as the FBI, and Hillary Clinton, if he wants to avoid comparisons to Joseph McCarthy, The Hill reports.
Santorum’s remarks are in reference to Donald Trump’s recent Twitter post, in which the president argued that Mueller, and “his gang” make “Joseph McCarthy look like a baby,” recommending the American public to “study” Joseph McCarthy.
Trump was referring to Wisconsin Senator Joseph McCarthy’s series of investigations into supposed communist infiltration of the U.S. government in the 1950s. According to Encyclopedia Britannica, the term “McCarthyism” has since become a “a byname for defamation of character or reputation by means of widely publicized indiscriminate allegations, especially on the basis of unsubstantiated charges.”
Evidently, former Senator Rick Santorum agrees with the president, since he said on CNN’s State of the Union that special counsel Robert Mueller should investigate the FBI, and DOJ “with respect to Hillary Clinton and all these other things.”
“It’s his job to do a thorough investigation. There’s certainly no evidence that he’s looking into any of this.”
Other panelists on State of the Union disagreed with Santorum’s estimate, according to The Hill, calling Robert Mueller a “hero,” and claiming that Donald Trump is, ironically, “McCarthy-like.”
It is widely known that the president has referred to special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe into Russian election meddling as a “rigged witch hunt,” but comparisons to McCarthyism are a relatively new linguistic tool in Donald Trump’s rhetoric arsenal.
As the New Yorker observed, the words “rigged witch hunt” have become the “signature story” of Donald Trump’s White House “reality show,” but the outlet also predicted that the president would continue to emphasize the point he is trying to make with the phrase as November midterms approach.
According to the New Yorker, since the polls suggest a Republican defeat in November midterms, the party has been effectively forced to follow Trump’s lead, adopting some of his mantras. That is why, for instance, individuals like Sean Hannity have promoted the theory that Trump should not be investigated for coordinating with the Russians, but the Democrats, Hillary Clinton in particular, should, the New Yorker concluded.
Whether deliberately or not, former Republican Senator Rick Santorum’s recent comments echo the narrative many Republicans are trying to push ahead of midterm elections, in an effort to produce what they are referring to as “the red wave.”
It remains to be seen whether this strategy will work out well for the GOP.
