President Trump considered the Wednesday testimony from Ambassador Gordon Sondland as a “win” for his presidency despite the ambassador’s claim of a “potential quid pro quo.”
During a tour of an Apple factory in Austin, Texas, on Wednesday, Trump told reporters he was pleased with how he came out in Sondland’s testimony. He called the impeachment an “embarrassment to our country” and bashed the leadership of House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
“Let me tell you, it’s a hoax, it’s a disgrace, it’s an embarrassment to our country. Nancy Pelosi has done a terrible job as speaker. There’s never been a speaker that has done so little, and she’s totally incompetent,” Trump said. “And shifty Schiff stands up, and he tells lies all day long.”
He added, “And even with that, we have no due process, we can’t have anything, and yet not only did we win today, it’s over.”
Trump slammed the press for claiming that Sondland landed some punches during the hearing. He said, “But we have a fake press, we have a phony press. We don’t have freedom of the press in this country. We have a phony press. They are dishonest, most of them.“
He continued, “Most of them are fake and phony. CNN, NBC, ABC, CBS, the Washington Post, New York Times. These are fake papers. They are fake press. They should be ashamed of themselves. And they hurt our country.”
Sondland, who is the U.S. ambassador to the European Union, testified on Wednesday that he believed there was a “potential quid pro quo” whereby Trump made the transfer of military aid to Ukraine contingent on an investigation into former Vice President Joe Biden and Burisma, a natural gas firm that gave Biden’s son Hunter a high-paying board position.
