Donald Trump, Jr. and his partner Kimberly Guilfoyle went on ABC’s “The View” Thursday morning. It did not go well for the president’s eldest son and his partner.
How bad?
The Daily Beast called it “a Total Shitshow.”
It was.
Jr. is currently promoting his new book which blatantly attacks the left: “Triggered: How the Left Thrives on Hate and Wants to Silence Us.”
He was confronted by View co-host Meghan McCain, whose father died after a prolonged battle with brain cancer, and who was attacked and mocked for years by candidate and then President Donald Trump.
“You and your family have hurt a lot of people,” McCain charged, specifically referring to Gold Star families, but more broadly as well. “Does all of this make you feel good?”
Trump Jr.’s response?
“We got into this because we wanted to do what’s right for America.”
That right there shows just how warped Donald Trump Jr.’s sensibilities are: hurting Americans, especialy Gold Star families, is, in his mind, “what’s right for America.”
Not satisfied, McCain pressed on.
“Character in politics, I believe is important. It’s how I was raised.”
Interestingly, Trump Jr. pivoted to putting McCain’s blame to just his father, saying he “calls a lot of those Gold Star families.”
As every president does.
Co-host Abby Huntsman also went after Jr., for outing the alleged whistleblower whose action directly led to an impeachment inquiry of his father. Whistleblowers are federally protected and this one asked to keep their identity anonymous to avoid attacks.
Releasing the whistleblower’s name is “something that dictators do,” Huntsman said. “The whole point of releasing a name is to intimidate someone, threaten someone, and to scare other people from coming out.”
“I’ve lived in China, I’ve seen that first hand, that’s not what America does, that’s not what we do. We stand by our people.”
Junior’s defense?
“I don’t think I should have to forgo my First Amendment rights.”
The First Amendment has nothing to do with this.
His other defense: he’s a “private citizen.”
That’s not exactly correct. He’s a public figure, and he’s the son of a sitting president. Responsibility comes with both.
Jr. also suggested the whistleblower was a CIA official so somehow deserved being attacked but the Trump family has been sent “white powder,” and didn’t deserve it. He wanted to know why the left was not equally outraged.
Co-host Joy Behar had the perfect response: “He asked to be anonymous. Your family did not.”
Co-host Sonny Hostin reminded Trump Jr. that outing a whistleblower is a federal crime.
Junior said it’s not.
“My law degree says it is,” Hostin responds.
Kimberly Guilfoyle then outright lied.
“The President of the United States released the transcript of exactly what happened in that phone call. The whistleblower is giving his opinion, or her opinion, of what transpired,” she claimed.
The transcript has not been released. In fact, the call summary released by the White House, which is damning as it is for the president, says it is not a transcript.