Former Missouri Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill said yesterday that as the country celebrates Thanksgiving this year, we must remember we are all the strongest guardrails that will help keep Donald Trump in check after he takes office next year.
McCaskill, along with former Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele, appeared on “Deadline: White House” to discuss Trump’s cabinet picks and his demand that everyone who serves in his administration sign a loyalty pledge to him instead of the Constitution.
“They pledge loyalty to him. Constitution be damned. This isn’t about the Constitution. They’re signing the agreement telling you we’re not using the FBI; we don’t want to do background checks. Quite frankly, it doesn’t really matter. I mean, the stuff that is coming out, I mean, blackmail, talk — what else could I blackmail you with other than a 17-year-old, you know, hanging out with a 17-year-old girl?” Steele noted.
Steele was referring to the allegations against former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), who was forced to withdraw his name from consideration as the next attorney general because he allegedly slept with underage girls and then paid them off so they would remain silent.
“I don’t hear a human cry from the U.S. Senate Republicans about the kind of people he’s putting up,” said Steele. “They’re trying to find peace with it. … They’re trying to make excuses for it.”
Steele also lamented that it seems the American people have given up trying to resist Trump and his band of criminals.
“I don’t know what more they can tell us. The public doesn’t seem to be outraged by it. I don’t hear people calling in and writing and saying, ‘What is Donald Trump doing? We didn’t vote for this!’ This is exactly what they voted for!”
McCaskill then joined the conversation, urging us to stay engaged and refuse to surrender.
“Here’s what I want to implore everyone in two days before Thanksgiving, as we all are looking for something to be grateful for at this important holiday that is all about family, we can’t give up,” she said. “I get it, the people want to turn it all off. I get it that this roller coaster of depression and anger and frustration going back to depression and anger and frustration over what the people of America decided a few weeks ago.”
The United States has faced numerous challenges in the past and there “have been low points, but it doesn’t mean they turned it off. It meant they turned up the heat. And I think that’s what needs to happen here.”
