‘I Will Go To My Grave Not Understanding’ Why GOP Supports Donald Trump, Says Retiring Congressman
In an interview with NBC on Sunday, Democratic Rep. Denny Heck of Washington weighed in on the state of American politics in the era of President Donald Trump, reports The Hill.
Heck, who announced on Wednesday that he would retire after completing his current term, said that Trump winning in 2020 would be a “nightmare scenario” in Congress for a variety of reasons, but namely because of the fact that the GOP has embraced the president.
Discussing his impending retirement, the veteran politician suggested that his decision has a lot to do with how the Republican Party has been acting with Trump in power.
The congressman explained that he feels “discouraged” by his Republican colleagues’ reaction to the impeachment inquiry into Trump, adding that some GOP lawmakers “simply don’t believe in compromise.”
Criticizing Republicans in Congress, Heck said that he will never understand why they continue supporting the president’s actions, even as he repeatedly attacks journalists and American diplomats.
“I will go to my grave not understanding how some of my colleagues could simply turn the other way and overlook the president’s behavior and his misdeeds, who would overlook his unrelenting attack, frankly, on the free press, overlook his kind of vicious character assassinations,” he said, adding that Trump has a “very distant relationship with the truth.”
Trump getting re-elected, Heck explained, would be a horrible scenario for Congress because the president has no commitment to “decency or truth,” and because of his “refusal to recognize even the most basic precepts of constitutional principle.”
Still, the retiring congressman said young Americans need to get involved in the political process because the United States is “worth fighting for.”
WATCH: President Trump winning a second term "is a nightmare scenario," retiring @repdennyheck (D-Wash.) says on #MTP.
"Benjamin Franklin warned us about the peril of keeping this republic. We've all got to double down on our commitment to the rule of law." pic.twitter.com/2AAX0LG3NY
— Meet the Press (@MeetThePress) December 8, 2019
Indeed, virtually all Republicans in Congress have stood by Trump, supporting the president’s agenda and defending him against Democratic accusations.
In order to protect the president from House Democrats’ impeachment inquiry, GOP lawmakers have started echoing his talking points, and alleging that it was Ukraine — not Russia — that meddled in the 2016 presidential election.
According to many Republicans, Ukraine interfered in U.S. politics to damage Trump and help former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
Even some of those who used to be staunchly opposed to Trump flipped once he managed to beat Clinton.
South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham, for instance, went from being one of Trump’s fiercest critics on the right to being one of his most loyal allies. Graham, who vowed to never forgive Trump for remarks about the late Senator John McCain, is now siding with the president and has attacked the family of his longtime friend, former Vice President Joe Biden.
