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The fact that House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has rallied behind Donald Trump in the wake of the former president’s latest indictment is not surprising. Long gone are the days in which the House Republican leader said he’d “had it with this guy“ in the wake of the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.
What’s more interesting is watching McCarthy try to come up with something compelling to say.
Donald Trump is set to appear in court on Tuesday at 3 p.m. ET. Follow our live blog for the latest updates and analysis in his classified documents case
Within hours of Trump announcing his second indictment last week, McCarthy’s apparent first instinct was to peddle a rather ridiculous claim, telling Americans that the indictment was evidence of the “brazen weaponization” of the Justice Department, which remains absurd. The House speaker added in the same statement that the indictment was a “grave injustice,” despite the fact that McCarthy had not seen or read the document itself.
Over the weekend, the GOP leader, apparently unable to think of anything sensible, told Fox News that President Joe Biden and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton did the “exact same” thing as Trump, which as McCarthy really ought to know, is obvious nonsense. In the same interview, the House speaker added that the case against the former president is “going to disrupt this nation,” which might very well be true, but in a country that takes the rule of law seriously, those accused of serious felonies don’t get a pass if politicians think their trials might be distracting.
Yesterday on Capitol Hill, McCarthy spoke to reporters for the first time since the indictment news broke, and he tried to put a new spin on his stale talking points. NBC News reported:
Asked whether it’s a “good look” for Trump to store classified documents in a bathroom, according to the indictment, McCarthy again tried to draw parallels between Trump and Biden’s classified documents cases. “I don’t know. Is it a good picture to have boxes in a garage that opens up all the time? A bathroom door locks,” he said.
Oh my.
First, when asked about Trump’s scandal, McCarthy doesn’t have to try to change the subject. The fact that the House speaker can’t seem to defend the former president on the merits, and finds it necessary to try to shift the focus to someone else, suggests he can’t think of an actual defense for his partisan ally.
Second, the Biden and Trump cases aren’t especially similar, no matter how many times McCarthy tries to deceive the public. That said, if the House speaker has evidence of the Democratic president defying a subpoena, showing classified documents to those without clearance, and taking clumsy steps to orchestrate a ham-handed cover-up, I’ll gladly update this post.
Third, garage doors tend to have locks.
And finally, while it’s true that bathroom doors lock, they tend to lock from the inside. As Democratic Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland told CNN, “Well, it’s the first I’ve seen that particular defense, but is he suggesting that these boxes of classified documents got up and locked the door after people left the bathroom? I’m not quite sure I follow the logic of it.”
That’s because there is no logic to it.
Look, I don’t mean to sound unsympathetic. McCarthy is in a tough spot: He feels the desperate need to defend Trump — in part out of partisan loyalty, in part because the former president could help derail the House speaker’s career — and he apparently can’t think of anything honest or persuasive to say. It’s left the hapless House speaker in the unenviable position of pretending Biden and Trump did the same thing — hoping the public won’t notice the foolish deception — and becoming the subject of ridicule with silly comments about bathroom door locks.
There’s a better way: McCarthy could save himself some embarrassment by simply saying, “The former president deserves the presumption of innocence, and I’m optimistic about his upcoming trial.”
Wouldn’t that be better than effectively admitting he can’t concoct a single intelligent defense?