CNN’s Mattingly Calls Out GOP Rep Who Says ‘There Needs to Be a MUCH Much Higher Bar’ For Trump: ‘Isn’t That a 2-Tiered System?’
CNN anchor Phil Mattingly called out Florida Republican Congressman Mike Waltz for saying there “should be a much, much higher bar” for indicting ex-President Donald Trump.
Since it broke, media attention has been riveted to the news that ex-President Donald Trump has been indicted by Special Counsel Jack Smith’s grand jury for his attempt to overturn the 2020 presidential election before and on January 6, 2021. Trump faces charges of conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, obstruction of an attempt to obstruct an official proceeding, and conspiracy against rights.
On Wednesday morning’s edition of CNN This Morning, Mattingly pushed Waltz to defend his opposition to the indictment and called out what appeared to him to be a glaring contradiction:
PHIL MATTINGLY: You feel like a president who has lost an election lying repeatedly about the vote to his supporters and then leading and helping attempt to enact a scheme to overturn an election, he lost that. That’s not divisive, that that isn’t problematic, that that doesn’t create significant issues inside the country?
REP. MIKE WALTZ: Well, I mean, frankly, it doesn’t surprise me that you’re presenting that as as fact.
PHIL MATTINGLY: Which which parts of that do you think are not?
REP. MIKE WALTZ: At the time that that President Trump believed he was driving towards the truth, believed the election was was being tampered with, that the Democrats changed the rules under the guise of COVID, in some cases legally or illegally. But if he’s driving towards the truth, you have to prove intent that he knew none of that was true. Again, we’re talking…
PHIL MATTINGLY: Congressman, I’m not asking from a legal basis though.
REP. MIKE WALTZ: You could argue, but but I know but to now criminalize that. And what I’m saying is that someone, I would think, in the Department of Justice should say, hey, folks, let’s tap the brakes here. This is not only a former president, it’s a sitting candidate who is the leading right voice and the leading political candidate against our boss. This should be a much, much higher bar.
PHIL MATTINGLY: Isn’t that two tiers of justice though?
REP. MIKE WALTZ: This happens in Pakistan. This happens in places around the world and Africa where I’ve served. I never thought I’d see it happen here in the United States. But and I just can’t underscore how damaging it is.
PHIL MATTINGLY: Now, I understand that, so do attempted coups, which I think is the problem here. If you have to have a higher bar for a former president, isn’t that a two-tiered justice system?
REP. MIKE WALTZ: No, I think that is someone who is exercising prosecutorial discretion. I think that is. And I do think there should be some consideration when you have the leading political opponent of the party in power. I mean, that that just seems to me to be so obvious.
And look, guys, it’s not as though someone walked in on President Trump holding a gun over a murder victim or he was caught selling secrets to the Chinese or Russian. These are incredibly complex legal theories that a lot of people are going to debate. And now that we’re in an election year, someone should have said, hey, folks, let’s slow down here.
This is going to be damaging the country, because I can tell you, tens of Americans, tens of millions of Americans out there believe this is all about getting Trump. I just had a family member last night who’s a registered independent, can’t stand Trump, say if he dropped out of the race tomorrow, this would all go away. And I think that’s what a heck of a lot of people believe. I don’t know how we put Pandora back in the box after these indictments.
Watch above via CNN This Morning.
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