CNN: OutFront with Erin Burnett

Coleman and McCollister Call Out GOP, Stand Up to Trump

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BURNETT: OUTFRONT now, two Republican politicians who have recently stood up to their party and President Trump: State Senator John McCollister from Nebraska just last week, and former Congressman Tom Coleman from Missouri.

I appreciate both of you taking the time, because I know you feel the need to speak out, but I also know you — it’s not easy to do it, right? It’s not easy to do it for a lot of reasons. Senator McCollister, let me start with you. What’s your reaction to what Anthony Scaramucci just said?

STATE SENATOR JOHN MCCOLLISTER (R-NE): Amazing. I think he’s right now. He’s right on target. Donald Trump is a guy, is our divider in chief. And I think people are finally starting to recognize the guy for who he is.

BURNETT: Congressman Coleman, White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham responded to Scaramucci’s comments today about not supporting the president in 2020. She said in part, this is all self-serving on his part. The media plays right into it. It’s embarrassing to watch.

So, they say that it is embarrassing to watch Anthony Scaramucci. What do you say?

TOM COLEMAN, FORMER GOP CONGRESSMAN FROM MISSOURI: I would say this, probably, the Mooch isn’t the best messenger for the message, but I certainly hope that he’s correct. I don’t see it right now and as far as the White House, whatever they say, you cannot believe. I mean, this is a president who has lied over 12,000 times. So, their credibility is pretty well gone. And I’m surprised even that it’s even, quote, newsworthy to listen to him.

BURNETT: I mean, you know, of course, you are put in a position where that’s the press secretary for the United States. So, it’s — you can see the challenge of the situation.

Senator, let me ask you. You know, one thing Anthony Scaramucci says is that he has been inundated with support from Republicans for taking on Trump. He’s getting all these calls. All these people are reaching out.

You and I spoke about a week ago. And you spoke out against the president’s racism. You made this decision that you were no longer going to stay silent.

Then, your own state GOP party, they said get out. Switch your registration. That was their response.

What has happened since?

MCCOLLISTER: Well, they did ask me to leave the party. And I’m not going to do that. Absolutely no way. I’m going to stay in the party and use the platform that I’ve recently acquired to talk about politics in Nebraska and the country.

I think what’s happened environmentally — we had that occur today with the president’s announcement — is despicable. We need to sign back up for the Paris accord, environmental accord and move back into that in that area because the environment needs our attention. BURNETT: And there was that. There was also, of course, Endangered

Species, all of that as you point out today.

I mean, Congressman Coleman, Scaramucci said one other thing that I want to make sure our viewers hear and in a sense, it reflects what the senator just said. Let me play it for you.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANTHONY SCARAMUCCI, FORMER WHITE HOUSE COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR: If he continues like this over the next three or four weeks, it is a responsibility of people in the Republican Party, OK, to say, hey, man, you know, we may need to put a relief pitcher in here. I’m a loyal Republican. And I tried to be loyal to him. But let’s face it — I mean, he’s gone off the rails. And so, we just have to call it for what it is.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: Congressman, you have been speaking out and calling it like it is. Do you — do you think that — do you have any reason to believe — the two of you are sitting here tonight, right? But, Congressman Coleman, anyone else in the Republican Party is going to stand up right now and say, me, too?

COLEMAN: Well, I think you have to look at the Republican Party in two ways. First of all, the elected officials especially in the ones in our federal government. They are enablers. They have been silent. And until their own reelections are in doubt, that’s the way they’re going to be. There is no profile in courage in that Senate.

As far as the regular what I would call rank and file — and maybe Senator McCollister thinks — you know, that’s what he is and he probably is, although he is a high official in Nebraska, I think a lot of people who are traditional Republicans forget that when Ronald Reagan, for example, left the Democratic Party, he said, I didn’t leave the Democratic Party. The Democratic Party left me.

And if a lot of the rank and file Republicans sit down and thought about it, they’d say, hey, the Republican Party has left me, too, because the Republican Party is branded by Donald Trump, is whatever Donald Trump thinks, which is a dangerous thing to consider. I mean, where are the people who always were for a balanced budget, who were for free trade — who are for strong defense? All of these issues are now been turned upside down.

BURNETT: And, of course, I will just point out, this is on a day where we find out the budget is up 30 percent just over a year. If there’s one thing he said he was going to do, I mean, that promise is incredibly broken. If you think debt matters in this country, you better be pretty darn concerned.

Senator, many elected Republicans, right, if they — let’s say they agree with you or are being quiet for whatever reason, or, you know, look at some of the leaders in Washington, why are they so afraid of Trump at this point? Why are they so afraid of him?

MCCOLLISTER: Yes, I’d argue that Donald Trump is a political shape shifter. And so, he has no positions of himself. He is a transactional kind of president. So, I think we need to find somebody to run against him in the Republican Party that will give us a better choice because this guy is just not doing it for us.

BURNETT: Congressman, why do you think they’re so afraid? I mean, there’s plenty of reasons. They can do what Mark Sanford did on this program the other day and say it’s about the debt. They don’t have to go there on morality or on race as you both have courageously done. They can stick right there in the debt lane and say we’re done with the guy, but they don’t.

COLEMAN: They are afraid of being primaried, first of all. And they’re afraid of their shadows basically. As I said, there is no profile in courage. There’s no courage at all.

And as a former Republican, because I have left the Republican Party. It left me. I thought Donald Trump was unfit for president. And I said so on this network during the campaign of 2016.

He’s emotionally and mentally unfit. He has proven that every day of his presidency. He’s lied 12,000 times. He’s buddied up to Putin. Who knows what he’s doing with North Korea?

It’s a shambles, it’s chaos and the public has to address it. Traditional Republicans have to think, is that my party? Is that what I want to stand for? Is that what I want to be identified with?

BURNETT: All right. Well, I thank you both very much for your time. Thank you.

Transcript Source
Trump’s Ex-White House Communications Director No Longer Backs Trump’s Re-Election
(CNN, 8/12/19)