House Republican Calls Trump Extortion Businessman Blunt Talk

The new Republican excuse for Trump’s extortion of Ukraine is that it was just businessman blunt talk, according to Rep. Tom McClintock (R-CA).

Tom McClintock said when asked if the president did anything wrong, he answered, “He didn’t use the delicate language of diplomacy in that conversation. That’s true. He also doesn’t use the smarmy talk of politicians. What you hear from Donald J. Trump is the blunt talk of a Manhatten businessman. He says what he means. He means what he says. That’s the only thing that’s remarkable about that conversation, but he was entirely within his constitutional authority.”

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The new Republican defense of Trump is that the president tells the truth. Extortion of a foreign country for election interference is constitutional, and that Trump can’t violate the law by withholding congressionally appropriated funds.

Rep. McClintock’s answer was a version of the response to the Access Hollywood tapes reply that it was just “locker room talk.” In the minds of Republicans, extortion is just “blunt Manhatten businessman talk.” It is time to drop the BS that Trump isn’t a politician. He has been president for three years. Trump isn’t just a politician. He is the political establishment.

There is nothing that Trump could do that would cause Republicans to break with him, which is why the only way to rid the nation of Donald Trump is to defeat him in 2020.

Jason Easley

Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.

Awards and  Professional Memberships

Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association