VandeHei Mocks Trump: ‘Not Going to Ask for a Pardon for Cheating on My Wife if I Haven’t Cheated’
Axios co-founder Jim VandeHei appeared on MSNBC Friday morning to discuss new reports that President Donald Trump has inquired about his pardoning powers with respect to the special investigation into ties between his 2016 campaign and Russia.
VandeHei started by claiming “we’re headed towards a true constitutional crisis.”
“The president knows: you don’t ask, ‘can I pardon myself,’ if you don’t think there is something to hide,” VandeHei said. “You don’t ask about that for your family members if you don’t think somebody is going to get charged.”
VandeHei added, in reference to reports that Robert Mueller’s investigation has begun examining Trump’s business dealings, that the president believes something illicit will be found.
That’s why, VandeHei contended, Trump “knows he has to play offense.”
“He’s a terrible client for lawyers because he’s never going to behave. He wants junkyard dogs, he wants to fighters and he wants to fight. Because he knowns that at the end of the day, as long as those 40% of Americans are with him he can go to war and do things that all of us think you can’t do.”
New York Times White House correspondent Julie Hirschfeld Davis added that these comments from the administration are part of an effort to discredit the investigation — and possibly lay the predicate for removing Mueller.
VandeHei noted that the Clinton’s also engaged in a similar strategy during their legally-dogged administration — adding “that’s not unusual.”
“That pardon thing is weird!” he continued. “I’m not going to ask for a pardon for cheating on my wife if I haven’t cheated on her.”
In a quick aside, VandeHei turned to the camera and said “and Autumn, I didn’t cheat on you.”
“So why would you ask for a pardon for a sin you didn’t commit?” VandeHei asked. “If there’s nothing to hide, you don’t ask for a pardon.”
Watch above, via MSNBC.
[image via screengrab]
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