Rep.-Elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) is not afraid to call out hypocrisy when she sees it, which is why she slammed Senator Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and other Republicans on Twitter Friday for hypocritically defending President Donald Trump’s lies about his extramarital affairs 20 years after they tried to impeach Bill Clinton for the same thing.
Republicans made quite a spectacle about Clinton’s lies to cover up his extramarital affairs in 1999, including Graham, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), and Senator Orin Hatch (R-Utah.), who were all in Congress at the time and blasted Clinton for his behavior in office.
As we all know, Clinton survived his impeachment trial in the Senate and went on to finish his second term as president. But Trump’s behavior has been so much worse than Clinton’s ever was, as he is embroiled in several federal and state investigations, and is an unindicted co-conspirator for coordinating with and directing his former lawyer Michael Cohen to cover-up multiple affairs by paying hush-money in violation of campaign finance laws to keep the scandal from hurting his 2016 campaign.
These are felonies that Trump repeatedly lied about to the American people and media and is now trying to offer pathetic alternate excuses in his defense.
But Graham does not care about Trump’s behavior, and he appeared on Fox News earlier this week to defend Trump’s lies and actions.
“[Trump] is always under siege,” he whined. “He is saying this one minute and that the next. It’s what he does that matters.”
Indeed, and what Trump did is order his attorney to commit two felonies and cover them up to benefit his campaign according to court records, and that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Graham, however, argued that Trump shouldn’t be impeached for it.
“I voted against that article of impeachment because I think most people, blindsided, would lie to protect their family,” Graham said, referencing his vote against impeaching Clinton for perjury in 1999.
“Did Trump do some of this?” he asked. “I don’t know, but I think I would at least understand it. Lying about sex wasn’t enough for me then and it’s not enough now. He is like every other person. Bill Clinton lied about having sexual relationships with that woman. I voted against that article of impeachment because I think most people would lie to protect their family.”
The problem is that Trump did not lie to “protect his family,” he lied to protect himself and his presidential campaign. Trump has cheated on his wives before and did not go to such lengths to cover them up for the sake of his family.
Ocasio-Cortez responded to Graham’s hypocrisy by calling him and other Republicans out on Twitter.
Didn’t he impeach Bill Clinton over the same thing? https://t.co/FOP9Q3iIDW
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@Ocasio2018) December 14, 2018
She even used Graham’s, McConnell’s and Hatch’s own words at the time against them.
“You don’t need to have been convicted of a crime. Impeachment isn’t about punishment. It’s about cleansing the office.”
– @LindseyGrahamSCSen. Graham himself established a standard that demands Trump’s impeachment. pic.twitter.com/s4937hsKaB
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@Ocasio2018) December 14, 2018
Indeed, Graham also said that “impeachment is about restoring honor and integrity to the office,” which he is refusing to do now by defending Trump.
She then re-tweeted a video of Graham’s remarks alone.
Lindsey Graham on removing Bill Clinton from office: “You don’t even have to be convicted of a crime to lose your job in this constitutional republic if this body determines your conduct as a public official is clearly out of bounds in your role.” pic.twitter.com/u0t9PC5BTP
— Simon Hedlin (@simonhedlin) December 14, 2018
And she’s right. Republicans are hypocrites because they insisted on impeaching Clinton for lying about an affair. Trump not only lied, but he also directed his lawyer to pay hush money and tried to cover up his crimes to benefit his campaign and proceeded to repeatedly lie to the American people and the press about it for months. His actions may have helped swing the election because voters lacked the knowledge to make a fully informed choice.
Ocasio-Cortez has proved that she’s willing and able to take on Republicans and call out their bullsh*t as a member of Congress, and that’s exactly why they fear her. She wants to hold them and Trump accountable. Because if Republicans really gave a damn about the law and the integrity of the office of the presidency, they would have impeached him by now.
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