During the latest edition of Unfiltered broadcast on Saturday, CNN host S.E. Cupp slammed conservative pundits for mocking former United States Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch, and other witnesses in the impeachment probe against President Donald Trump , reports Mediaite .
Cupp began by pointing out that three diplomats have testified publicly, and one behind closed doors, “each telling the same story.”
The anchor noted that there appears to be “two different realities.” There’s a Democratic reality and a Republican reality, with Democrats “saying this is bad” and calling for impeachment, while Republicans argue that “none of this matters,” and pushing back against investigations into Trump.
However, Cupp suggested, a number of conservative pundits have made disparaging comments about the witnesses, Yovanovitch in particular.
“I want to get the wording just right from the pundits: ‘a narcissistic diplomat snowflake,’ ‘neurotics,’ and ‘self-important nerds,’” she said, without identifying the pundits by name.
“You can decide what the president did wasn’t impeachable, that’s fine — that’s your right,” Cupp stated, arguing that it is “disgraceful” to disparage and attack public servants.
“But three rich pundit dudes who have given not a single day to public service trashing four devoted public servants along the way, well that’s just disgraceful,” she said.
As Mediaite notes, Cupp was referring to comments made by Fox News hosts Sean Hannity and Tucker Carlson, and talk radio host Rush Limbaugh.
Defending Trump, Hannity called Yovanovitch a “snowflake” for saying that she felt intimidated when House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff pointed out that Trump is lashing out at her via Twitter.
During Yovanovitch’s testimony, the president took to social media to attack the diplomat, questioning her career, and suggesting that every country she served in “turned bad.”
Carlson dedicated a whole monologue to Yovanovitch, arguing that the fact that she felt intimidated by Trump is “embarrassing.”
“You know the saying, you get the government you deserve? It has never felt more true than this week.” Listen to @secupp give this week’s impeachment breakdown & explain why she thought members of her party were “disgraceful.” pic.twitter.com/QoEhyNauDO
— SE Cupp Unfiltered (@UnfilteredSE) November 17, 2019
The host also wondered about the State Department’s hiring process, asking if there are other “neurotics” serving as U.S. diplomats abroad, according to RealClearPolitics .
Limbaugh did not take aim at Yovanovitch, choosing instead to criticize former United States Ambassador to Ukraine Bill Taylor and Deputy Assistant Secretary for European and Eurasian Affairs George Kent, according to Newsmax .
Limbaugh suggested that the two men simply have policy disagreements with Trump, describing them as “self-important nerds.”
While Hannity, Carlson, and Limbaugh claim Yovanovitch overreacted to Trump’s alleged intimidation, legal experts disagree . In fact, they claim the president’s tweets are a separate impeachable offense.
Harvard Law professor and constitutional scholar Laurence Tribe, and professor John Coates have both argued that the president’s tweets amount to witness tampering, which is an impeachable offense.