In their eagerness to defend Donald Trump’s indefensible attack on immigrants from “s**thole countries,” Laura Ingraham and Jason Chaffetz pretended only Democratic Senator Dick Durbin said he had heard the remark and dishonestly cast him as the liar.
Ingraham coyly suggested Dick Durbin had lied about Trump’s s**thole comment without actually saying so
Ingraham opened the discussion without directly arguing that Trump never said the now-infamous comment, “Why are we having all these people from shithole countries come here?”
INGRAHAM: All the focus is on the president’s remarks about s-hole countries but one simple question:Can we really trust anything said by Senator Dick Durbin? Come on!
The “evidence” was one Durbin misstatement from 2013 and a “shocking statement” from 2005. During the segment, banners read: "HISTORY OF DICK DURBIN’S LIES" and "CAN ANYTHING DICK DURBIN SAY [sic] BE TRUSTED?"
Republican Senators Have Confirmed Trump’s “S**thole Countries” Comment
In fact, there are plenty of reasons to believe Durbin’s account. For one thing, he was not alone in saying what happened. The Washington Post, which broke the story, reported “several people briefed on the meeting” confirmed Trump’s remarks about immigrants from Haiti, El Salvador and African countries. The New York Times wrote about Trump’s remarks, “according to people with direct knowledge of the conversation.”
Despite the fact that his comments exploded into the news cycle on Thursday, Trump did not deny his comments until Friday morning and even then not completely.
The language used by me at the DACA meeting was tough, but this was not the language used. What was really tough was the outlandish proposal made - a big setback for DACA!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 12, 2018
Never said anything derogatory about Haitians other than Haiti is, obviously, a very poor and troubled country. Never said “take them out.” Made up by Dems. I have a wonderful relationship with Haitians. Probably should record future meetings - unfortunately, no trust!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 12, 2018
On Friday, two Republican senators who had been in the meeting, both close to Trump, said they “do not recall the President saying these comments specifically.” That is no definite denial about comments that would be unforgettable – unless those two senators are inured to such talk.
But there are other Republicans who have either confirmed or not contradicted Durbin. As Vox noted, other Republican attendees “have simply remained silent on the matter or tried to dodge the question, rather than outright denying it.” Vox also reported that Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) stated that Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), who had been in attendance, told him that Trump’s reported comments were “basically accurate.” And Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ), who was not in the meeting, said he had heard about Trump’s comments before they were made public and that what he had heard matched what was reported.
Meanwhile, it’s hard to think of a bigger liar than Donald Trump. In less than one year in office, Trump has told 2,000 false or misleading claims. Yet somehow, Trump’s record did not come into the discussion.
For some reason, the Democrat in the segment, Robin Biro, did not call out the dishonest premise going on under his nose. Not that his going-along-to-get-along paid off. As soon as Biro said that Trump’s comment was “overtly racist,” Ingraham interrupted. Biro never got an opportunity to comment again.
“Overtly racist? How is it racist?” Ingraham barked. She then claimed, “It came out that way because the media wants to fulfill its narrative.”
Jason Chaffetz jumped on the “Let’s Pretend The Democrats Are The Wrongdoers” Train
The other guest, Republican Jason Chaffetz suggested that Durbin had made up Trump’s remark merely to “play the race card.” “They’ve been playing the race card over and over again,” Chaffetz sneered, presumably about Democrats. “I submit they’re out of ideas… it’s the only thing they have.”
I submit that blaming Democrats is the only thing guys like Chaffetz have. That, and falsehoods. Chaffetz next claimed, “Look, there were six members of Congress in that room, there’s only one Democrat and only the Democrat is saying that this has happened.”
Ingraham did not correct that fiction.
Then Chaffetz went on this hypocritical, sanctimonious rant:
CHAFFETZ: I think it was the German philosopher Nietzsche who said, “I’m not upset that you lied to me, I’m upset that I can never trust you again.” And that’s the reputation that Dick Durbin has earned in this situation. It’s just absolutely wrong what he’s saying, when the president is saying no, that didn’t happen.
Watch Chaffetz and Ingraham desperately try to deflect from Trump's unfit-for-office behavior below, from the January 12, 2018 The Ingraham Angle.