Claire McCaskill Says GOP Senators Privately Admit Trump Is ‘Nuts’
Outgoing Senator Claire McCaskill has nothing to lose after she was unseated in the 2018 midterms, so she is speaking her mind on her way out of office. In an interview with CNN’s Manu Raju, the Missouri Democrat said her Republican colleagues privately acknowledge that President Donald Trump is “nuts.” She also expressed skepticism at the excitement over newly-elected Democratic member of Congress Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
Speaking of her Republican colleagues, McCaskill said, “Now they’ll tell you, if it’s just the two of you, ‘The guy is nuts, he doesn’t have a grasp of the issues, he’s making rash decisions, he’s not listening to people who know the subject matter.’ But in public if they go after him… they know they get a primary [challenger], and they know that’s tough.”
They'll tell you, if it's just the two of you, you know, 'The guy (Trump) is nuts, he doesn't have a grasp of the issues — he's making rash decisions, he's not listening to the people who know the subject matter,'" McCaskill says https://t.co/nqvIv1uugN pic.twitter.com/rbOINq8Lwh
— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) December 24, 2018
However, she clarified, “This is Donald Trump’s Republican Party. Make no mistake about it… I mean, he’s almost the master of, ‘I’m going to do so much stuff that’s crazy that nobody notices crazy anymore…’ I mean, Kanye West was in the Oval Office M-F-ing on live TV. I mean, think about that. That is crazy weird. Can you imagine would have happened if that happened during the Obama years? … The lid would have blown off this place. I think Fox News Channel would have gone up in some kind of spontaneous combustion, had that happened.”
McCaskill on Trump: "He's almost the master of, 'I'm going to do so much stuff that's crazy that nobody notices crazy anymore. … I mean, Kanye West was in the Oval Office M'Fing! I mean, think about that. That's crazy weird." pic.twitter.com/WaDP065IZD
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) December 25, 2018
McCaskill also took the opportunity to shade incoming representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a rising star in the Democratic party who ousted longtime Democratic Rep. Joe Crowley (D-NY). A moderate Democrat, McCaskill cautioned others in her party not to be distracted by young newcomers to the political scene after she herself was beaten by a Republican up-and-comer. “I’m a little confused why she’s the thing. But it’s a good example of what I’m talking about, a bright shiny new object, came out of nowhere and surprised people when she beat a very experienced congressman.”
McCaskill added: “And so she’s now talked about a lot. I’m not sure what she’s done yet to generate that kind of enthusiasm, but I wish her well. I hope she hangs the moon… The rhetoric is cheap. Getting results is a lot harder.”