‘That’s Your Job’ Risch Tells CNN
One of the least well-known Republican U.S. Senators is under fire Tuesday night after telling CNN it’s not his job to call the president out when he lies. Sen. Jim Risch of Idaho, who also served as that state’s governor, made clear he has no desire or intention of challenging the leader of his party – ever.
“When he lies about something and you know it’s a lie, shouldn’t you speak out?” Wolf Blitzer asked.
“That’s your job,” Risch responded with lightning speed.
That entire exchange took four seconds.
Risch, it’s important to note, strongly support’s Trump’s dangerous rhetoric toward North Korea, and signed a letter asking Trump to withdraw from the Paris climate agreement.Â
Shocked and stunned, Blitzer pushed back, reminding Risch he’s a United States Senator, and Congress is a co-equal branch of government.
Risch, who is likely to be given the powerful Senate Foreign Relations chairmanship when Senator Bob Corker resigns (if Democrats don’t win the Senate) responded that he would “be busy all day long” if he criticized remarks he doesn’t like everyone in politics makes.
Blitzer, unwilling to let the issue go, reminded him that just hours earlier Senator Jeff Flake, announcing his retirement, had blasted Republicans for not pushing back on Trump, and being “complicit” in his dangerous behavior.
Asked what he thought of Flake’s remarks, Risch again with lightning speed responded: “That’s his view.”
Others have a different view.
Take Philip Mudd, who later appeared on CNN. Mudd is a former deputy director of the CIA’s Counterterrorist Center and of the FBI’s National Security Branch.
He was not having Risch’s cowardice:
 Nor were folks on Twitter. Here’s how they responded:
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