The first two people called to testify as part of public impeachment hearings rebuffed suggestions from President Trump that they are “Never Trumpers.”
Rep. Eric Swalwell asked Deputy Assistant Secretary of State George Kent and acting U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine William Taylor whether they identified themselves as “Never Trumpers,” a phrase Trump and his allies have used to describe Republicans who don’t support the president.
“Just about an hour before the two of you sat down to testify today, the president tweeted multiple times about this hearing, and he put in all caps ‘NEVER TRUMPERS.’ Mr. Kent are you a ‘Never Trumper?’” the California Democrat asked.
“I am a career non-professional who serves whatever president is duly elected and carries out the foreign policies of that president and the United States, and I’ve done that for 27 years for three Republican presidents and two Democrat presidents,” Kent responded.
When Taylor was asked the same question, he answered, “No sir.”
Trump has previously attacked those on the right who oppose him and last month referred to his conservative critics as “human scum.”
“The Never Trumper Republicans, though on respirators with not many left, are in certain ways worse and more dangerous for our Country than the Do Nothing Democrats. Watch out for them, they are human scum!” Trump said.
The Never Trumper Republicans, though on respirators with not many left, are in certain ways worse and more dangerous for our Country than the Do Nothing Democrats. Watch out for them, they are human scum!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 23, 2019
