Rick Perry could be in a lot of trouble over the Ukraine scandal but I’m sure that has nothing to do with his rhapsodizing about Donald Trump as a gift from God to America on Dear Leader’s favorite morning show.
As NPR noted, It was Perry who led the U.S. delegation to Ukraine when newly elected President Volodymyr Zelenskiy was inaugurated back in May. And it was Perry who urged Trump to make that now-infamous July phone call to Zelenskiy — a phone call that's at the heart of the inquiry. E.U. Ambassador Gordon Sondland, who worked with Perry on Trump’s Ukraine demands, testified last week that yes, there was a quid pro quo and “everyone was in the loop.”
On top of that, while Perry insisted on Fox that his work in Ukraine was all about the rule of law and “mak[ing] sure that there’s not corruption going on,” it turns out he looks to be involved in his own spot of corruption. From AP:
Two political supporters of U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry secured a potentially lucrative oil and gas exploration deal from the Ukrainian government soon after Perry proposed one of the men as an adviser to the country’s new president.
Perry’s efforts to influence Ukraine’s energy policy came earlier this year, just as President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s new government was seeking military aid from the United States to defend against Russian aggression and allies of President Donald Trump were ramping up efforts to get the Ukrainians to investigate his Democratic rival Joe Biden.
Ukraine awarded the contract to Perry’s supporters little more than a month after the U.S. energy secretary attended Zelenskiy’s May inauguration. In a meeting during that trip, Perry handed the new president a list of people he recommended as energy advisers. One of the four names was his longtime political backer Michael Bleyzer.
A week later, Bleyzer and his partner Alex Cranberg submitted a bid to drill for oil and gas at a sprawling government-controlled site called Varvynska. They offered millions of dollars less to the Ukrainian government than their only competitor for the drilling rights, according to internal Ukrainian government documents obtained by The Associated Press. But their newly created joint venture, Ukrainian Energy, was awarded the 50-year contract because a government-appointed commission determined they had greater technical expertise and stronger financial backing, the documents show.
Not surprisingly, Ed Henry didn’t bring up that suspicious contract during their full interview that aired on America’s News HQ on Saturday.
But in another excerpt which aired on Fox & Friends earlier on Saturday, and which you can watch below, Perry just happened to make a point of slobbering over Trump in what I am sure was a totally sincere sentiment devoid of any self-seeking:
PERRY: God has used imperfect people all throughout history. King David wasn’t perfect, Saul wasn’t perfect. Solomon wasn’t perfect. And I actually gave the president a little one-pager on those Old Testament kings about a month ago. And I shared it with him. I said, “Mr. President, I know there are people that say, ‘you know, you said you were the chosen one.’” And I said, you were. I said, “If you’re a believing Christian, you understand God’s plan for the people who rule and judge over us on this planet and in our government.'”
At that point, Ed Henry interrupted the clip to claim Perry was not singling out Trump. "Lest people on the left attack Rick Perry, he believes Barack Obama was sent by God as well. He said in that moment, for that time. He said he thinks for this moment and this time, Donald Trump was sent by God to do great things.” Funny, I noticed Henry didn't say anything about Obama doing great or even good things.
Fox & Friends cohost Rachel Campos-Duffy said she has “always been concerned” that “the level of attacks that the president has endured is really going to dissuade a lot of good people from running for office in the future.” She said nothing about the attacks on Barack Obama, including Trump's bogus birtherism that was promoted on Fox.
Cohost Pete Hegseth added, “Going across the country, talking to supporters of this president, they feel precisely the same way Rick Perry does. They hear the attacks from the media about who he is and his background and they dismiss it and say God has used imperfect people forever because we’re all imperfect but what he has withstood is unlike what really any other mortal could understand.
Crooks and Liars noted, “As Ana Navarro tweeted, "It looks like a cult. It walks like a cult. It quacks like a cult. Yes, people. Trump’s base is a cult."
Watch the slobbering below, from the November 24, 2019 Fox & Friends, via Crooks and Liars.
I’m pretty sure that the Jesus he claims to believe in would spin furiously in his grave every time that little theory is used to justify every wrong-doing mentioned in his teachings.
I don’t know which is more bizarre. That he wants us to take his supposed deep spirituality about his grafting seriously? That Fox News hosts appear to be lapping up that supposed deep spirituality? Or that many Fox News viewers are willing to buy it too? This is the sort of thing that makes Americans embarrassed for the state of their country.
