Lots of people—across the political spectrum—are seriously upset with President Donald Trump for the “embarrassing spectacle” and his “bizarre” performance in Helsinki with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday, but will anything actually come of the president’s latest display of buffoonery and his inexplicable deference to the Russian leader?
Calls for impeaching the president have intensified over the last twenty-four hours. Charges of “treason” are being shouted from rooftops. Many are saying that top White House officials like White House officials, including chief of staff John Kelly and Russian Ambassador John Huntsman, should resign in protest.
Outraged, hundreds gathered outside the White House late Monday night where they chanted “Traitor! Traitor” outside the gates:
Even FOX News commentators and pundits called Trump’s behavior in Helsinki and his comments during the press conference a mix of “disgusting,” “lame,” and “surreal.”
The former CIA Director John Brennan—a confirmed member of the bipartisan national security establishment who presided over the agency’s drone killing program and a consistent apologist for the torture of human beings—called it “treasonous” from his new perch at a MSNBC.
Republican Senator Jeff Flake of Arizona—who has called out President Donald Trump in rhetoric while consistently voting in favor of his policies—called it “shameful.” The terminally ill Sen. John McCain, also a Republican from Arizona and a reliable war hawk, lashed out and called it “one of the most disgraceful performances by an American president in memory.”
And while staunch Trump loyalist Sean Hannity told the president he “looked very strong,” former California governor and action-film star Arnold Schwarzenegger disagreed and said Trump was nothing but a “little wet noodle” before the global press in Helsinki.
Meanwhile, however, neither Majority Leader Mitch McConnell in the Senate or Speaker of the House Paul Ryan went nearly as far as other critics of Trump’s performance with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Helsinki on Monday. “I have said a number of times, I’ll say it again: The Russians are not our friends. And I entirely believe the assessment of our intelligence community,” McConnell told reporters. In his response, Ryan did not criticize Trump for his remarks directly, but only vaguely insinuated disagreement by stating, “the president must appreciate that Russia is not our ally.”
The anxiety in Republican circles is palpable, but will anyone within the party’s power structure actually do anything to subvert the president’s power or actually put into action something that makes tangible their objections to his behavior?
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