Right on schedule, congressional Republicans are trying to use Donald Trump’s dangerous and arguably illegal decision to assassinate Iranian Maj. Gen. Qassem Soleimani to get Trump out of his impeachment troubles. “Think of the contrast,” House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy tweeted. “While Democrats are trying to remove President Trump from office, the President is focused on removing terrorists from the face of the earth.”
Come on, now. Donald Trump, focused? That’s never an appropriate description of Trump regarding anything but his self-obsession, and “chose the outrageous option he was given only to make other drastic options seem reasonable, to the shock and chagrin of those around him” is not exactly a monumental act of focus.
Rep. Steve Scalise, the number two Republican in the House, similarly tried to use the Soleimani assassination as a get-out-of-impeachment-free card for Trump, saying that it “puts more pressure” on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to get out of the way of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s plan for a sham trial and focus on “things that really matter.” Except that Pelosi can walk and chew gum at the same time, or, in this case, hold on to the impeachment articles until McConnell pledges a fair process and also plan a vote on a war powers resolution.
”It’s time to let the Senate do its job and move on because there are real, significant issues that the country is facing right now—both foreign and domestic,” Scalise said, as if McConnell hadn’t been sitting for the better part of a year on top of a giant pile of House-passed bills on which he won’t allow a Senate vote.
Republicans are not changing their campaign of dishonesty any time soon, in other words. Especially not when they have a chance to replay their 2003 Iraq campaign.