Republican defends Trump by saying 'he doesn't tell the truth about a lot of things'

Michael Cohen's explosive statement against Donald Trump on Wednesday featured a lot of shocking claims made against the president.

What happens next remains to be seen but it is no doubt going to be interesting. In the meantime, critics and supporters of the president will argue about what Cohen's revelations actually mean.

These discussions started almost immediately after Cohen's testimony had finished and perhaps the most bizarre defence of Trump came from former Republican senator Rick Santorum.

The 60-year-old Pennsylvania native who was in office between 1995 and 2007, now makes regular appearances as a political commentator for CNN.

During a round-table discussion on Cohen, Santorum was asked by host Anderson Cooper to elaborate on an off-air conversation he was having with the journalist Carl Bernstein on why he believes members of Trump's team continue to about Russia.

Santorum then offered a very unusual reply where he essentially said that Trump 'lies all the time, so why is this any different?'

Well, I guess the point I was trying to make to Carl is, the president doesn’t tell the truth about a lot of things fairly consistently.

And so the fact that he’s not telling the truth about Russia fairly consistently, at least in the eyes of people around here, why is that any different?

I mean, it’s not like he’s doing something out of character with the Russia investigation that he’s not doing in any other areas.

So that’s — so you make the point, oh, he lies about Russia all time. Well, according to what I hear on this roundtable and the network, he lies about everything all the time.

CNN host Jeffery Toobin, obviously not buying this shallow attempt to defend Trump, shot back.

Is that really — is that really the best defence you can come up with? 'Well, he lies about everything, your honour!'

Santorum then tried to explain himself again.

No, wait, stop. What he’s saying [Bernstein] is and the argument is, is that he’s acting differently here than he is otherwise.

I’m not saying any of it’s good, but the point is, he’s not acting differently.

Bernstein then interjected to point out how Trump's lies to contradict the news that is breaking about him on specific days.

There’s a real specificity to his lying about Russia…There is a specificity to him drafting that statement the plan. 

There is a specificity to almost all of the lies that try to contradict whatever that days breaking news is, very specifically.

He is on point. It is a very careful denial when it comes to Russia. 

This type of behaviour isn't uncommon from Republicans, as was evident during the questioning of Cohen after his statement at the testimony, where many Republicans accused him of lying.

HT Media ITE

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