CNN political commentators and former GOP Reps. Sean Duffy of Wisconsin and Charlie Dent of Pennsylvania got into a heated debate on the network about a White House official’s upcoming testimony before House impeachment investigators.
Duffy, who resigned from Congress at the end of August, pointed out that Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, who is set to testify Tuesday on complaints he registered over President Trump’s July phone call with Ukraine, was born in Ukraine, speaks the language, and advised Ukrainian officials about Rudy Guiliani, before questioning his loyalty to the United States.
Dent, who spent over a decade in the House, and CNN anchor John Berman attacked Duffy for questioning Vindman’s motives during a Tuesday morning segment on New Day.
“If I’m the president and I’m the White House, I’m very concerned. I mean, look, this behavior may or may not be impeachable, but I think we can all agree that it is wrong. And now we’re going to have a full investigation to see whether or not this merits impeachment,” Dent began.
Duffy then said he agreed with Dent’s claim that “it’s not impeachable,” but Berman called him out for taking the other congressman’s words out of context.
“Mr. Vindman, he’s an adviser to the president. He is a former Ukrainian. He wants to make sure that taxpayer money goes in military aid to the Ukraine,” Duffy added.
Berman interrupted Duffy to ask why his birthplace matters considering he’s an “active-duty military member” who has previously been awarded a Purple Heart.
“I’m of Irish descent. I still love the Irish. He has an affinity probably for his homeland,” Duffy added. “That’s not my point though, John. My point is that he gives advice to the president. He doesn’t set policy. So, the president has a lot of advisers who give different opinions and different views.”
Berman later retorted, “This colonel, Colonel Vindman, talked about how much he loves America, and the very first thing you brought up was where he was born. He’s a decorated American war hero.”
Dent then pointed out that there are many different ethnicities in the U.S. and called Vindman “an American patriot,” adding, “He serves us, and like many Americans — and I suspect particularly Ukrainian Americans — they want Ukraine to be independent, free from under the Russian boot.”
