The U.S. media has been aghast at Trump’s spectacle-like performance with the Finnish president. It truly was a sight to behold (only if you like horror shows). But no one as far as I know, has commented on one of the most egregious statements in his long rant against his political enemies. Trump, of course, railed against Rep. Adam Schiff, chair of the House Intelligence Committee, who he accused of fabricating quotes from the Ukraine telephone transcript while speaking on the House floor. He offered the usual range of smears and denunciations accusing Schiff of “treason” and other crimes real or imagined:
“We don’t call him ‘Shifty Schiff’ for nothing, he’s a shifty, dishonest guy, who by the way, was critical of one of the great secretaries of states, graduated No. 1 in his class at West Point, graduated one of the top in his class at Harvard Law School — the most honorable person,” Trump told reporters during a photo-op with the President of Finland at the White House.
Trump continued: “You know, there’s an expression, [Schiff] couldn’t carry [Pompeo’s] ‘blank’ strap, I won’t say it because they’ll say it was so terrible to say, but that guy couldn’t carry his ‘blank’ strap, do you understand that?”
Yes, sir. We understand it. Though we wish we didn’t. The mental image of anyone carrying Mike Pompeo’s jockstrap is deeply unnerving.
The “Shifty Schiff” sobriquet was even more disturbing. Back in the old days of Jim Crow, racist whites would call Blacks “shiftless and lazy.” Contrarily, anti-Semites would call Jews “shifty and conniving.” Now we have the President of the United States calling a senior Jewish Democrat, “shifty.” Anti Semites now run the asylum that is the Trump White House.
White supremacists get a twofer: a president who’s both an anti-Semite and a racist.
Thanks for the defense of Schiff. Schiff has been brilliant. He listens, thinks, and is very sharp, highly moral,doggedly in defense of our law/ The Constitution. He seems to be able, like Pelosi, to let Trump’s taunting not get him off balance. I did not connect “shifty” with anti-Semitism because I am slow about these things but yes. Wow. Trump is going to get worse before it gets better for the country.
Avram, if you call the four House members antiSemitic then surely Trump is. Shifty Schiff coming from the President and when there is nothing truthful to base this on does seem antiSemitic especially to those who are as sensitive as you apparently are to others use of certain words.
[Comment deleted : this is not a site meant to circulate GOP talking points, and lies at that. You may have mistaken this site for Breitbart or the Algemeiner.]
I do not want here to be again claimed supporting Trump. As a European and a Finn I have no need or will of supporting any US president, even they always claim to be the self-defined leaders of us in the “West”. USA has not for a very long time not produced presidents worth admiring as human beings and politicians.
When two presidents have a news conference the reporters ask questions linked to their meeting and to the relations between the countries. They leave the host country’s internal politics questions and allegations to news conferences reserved for those. In this “event” Trump had to answer to the allegations and Niinistö was silent and confused solely because there was nothing he could say or do in this macabre media show. Certainly Niinistö was not so astonished of how Trump reacted, more of the level to where USA’s internal political situation and media has declined.
The Finnish president Niinistö has quite much own temper. If he has to encounter questions he sees improper he lets the reporters to know it. That has he done several times.
I’m not Jewish, but found this chilling. trump has made many racist and even antisemitic statements in the past. I haven’t been personally exposed to a lot of this, but when it does happen it tends to be insinuated, not overt, a dog-whistle. Not being a dog, I usually don’t respond, maybe not to my credit. Recently in a fact-free comment to a Vermont online paper article, someone said a lot of nonsense about Bernie Sanders, concluding by calling Sanders a “carpetbagger” coming from a “Jewish enclave in Brooklyn”, a remark totally irrelevant to the article, and most certainly another dog-whistle. I responded, and the paper agreed with me, withholding my rebuttal, and taking out this guy’s comment.
This is a scary time in our history, and we have to be responsive to this sort of thing.
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You omit that President Trump also called Rep. Schiff, “little Adam Schiff” during the Oval Office meeting.
[comment deleted: the comment threads are not a venue for you to lie and smear people. If you do that again you will be moderated.]
Thanks for the defense of Schiff. Schiff has been brilliant. He listens, thinks, and is very sharp, highly moral,doggedly in defense of our law/ The Constitution. He seems to be able, like Pelosi, to let Trump’s taunting not get him off balance. I did not connect “shifty” with anti-Semitism because I am slow about these things but yes. Wow. Trump is going to get worse before it gets better for the country.
Avram, if you call the four House members antiSemitic then surely Trump is. Shifty Schiff coming from the President and when there is nothing truthful to base this on does seem antiSemitic especially to those who are as sensitive as you apparently are to others use of certain words.
[Comment deleted : this is not a site meant to circulate GOP talking points, and lies at that. You may have mistaken this site for Breitbart or the Algemeiner.]
Potter 27
I was not defending Schiff. I just don’t think Trump’ statement was anti-Semitic.
I do not want here to be again claimed supporting Trump. As a European and a Finn I have no need or will of supporting any US president, even they always claim to be the self-defined leaders of us in the “West”. USA has not for a very long time not produced presidents worth admiring as human beings and politicians.
When two presidents have a news conference the reporters ask questions linked to their meeting and to the relations between the countries. They leave the host country’s internal politics questions and allegations to news conferences reserved for those. In this “event” Trump had to answer to the allegations and Niinistö was silent and confused solely because there was nothing he could say or do in this macabre media show. Certainly Niinistö was not so astonished of how Trump reacted, more of the level to where USA’s internal political situation and media has declined.
The Finnish president Niinistö has quite much own temper. If he has to encounter questions he sees improper he lets the reporters to know it. That has he done several times.
I’m not Jewish, but found this chilling. trump has made many racist and even antisemitic statements in the past. I haven’t been personally exposed to a lot of this, but when it does happen it tends to be insinuated, not overt, a dog-whistle. Not being a dog, I usually don’t respond, maybe not to my credit. Recently in a fact-free comment to a Vermont online paper article, someone said a lot of nonsense about Bernie Sanders, concluding by calling Sanders a “carpetbagger” coming from a “Jewish enclave in Brooklyn”, a remark totally irrelevant to the article, and most certainly another dog-whistle. I responded, and the paper agreed with me, withholding my rebuttal, and taking out this guy’s comment.
This is a scary time in our history, and we have to be responsive to this sort of thing.
Since when do lies not justify the liar being called shifty? Adam Schiff is a disgrace to America.
@Reader: if anyone is a disgrace to America, it’s you for defending a blatant anti-Semitic president who Makes America Gag Again.
[comment deleted: if you want to rave interminably, do it elsewhere.]