‘We AREN’T ‘Never Trumpers’: First two public impeachment witnesses deny Trump’s Twitter claims that they are his political enemies
- The first two impeachment witnesses Bill Taylor and George Kent were asked explicitly if they were ‘NEVER TRUMPERS’ during Wednesday’s hearing
- President Trump had suggested as much in an early morning tweet, where he blasted the impeachment proceedings in all caps
- Both Taylor and Kent assured lawmakers they were non-partisan professionals and not part of the group that Trump has labeled ‘human scum’
The first two witnesses in the impeachment inquiry denied being so-called ‘NEVER TRUMPERS.’
Bill Taylor, the U.S.’s top Ukraine diplomat, and George Kent, the deputy assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian Affairs, were asked during Wednesday’s hearing if they held any anti-Trump bias.
At 8:30 a.m., an hour and a half before the hearing got going, the president had sent out a tweet that simply said, ‘NEVER TRUMPERS!’
Career Foreign Service officer George Kent (left) and top U.S. diplomat in Ukraine William Taylor (right) denied being ‘NEVER TRUMPERS’ during Wednesday’s impeachment hearing
Early Wednesday, President Trump tweeted ‘NEVER TRUMPERS!’ suggesting those testifying held an anti-Trump bias8
Rep. Eric Swalwell, a California Democrat who briefly ran for president, asked Kent and Taylor if they were ‘NEVER TRUMPERS!’
Previously, President Trump had tweeted that ‘Never Trump Republicans’ amounted to ‘human scum!’
In previous tweets, the president had said ‘Never Trumper Republicans were ‘human scum!’
Near the end of the hearing, Rep. Eric Swalwell – a California Democrat who had a short-lived presidential bid, asked the two witnesses about the pointed accusation.
‘The president tweeted multiple times about this hearing and he put in all caps NEVER TRUMPERS,’ Swalwell said. ‘Mr. Kent are you a never Trumper?’
Kent answered in the negative.
‘I am a career nonprofessional who serves whatever president is duly elected and carries out the foreign policies of that president in the United States,’ Kent replied. ‘And I’ve done that for 27 years for three Republican presidents and two Democrat presidents.’
The ‘nonproffesional’ verbiage seemed to be a flub, as he made a nearly identical statement during his opening.
‘I have served proudly as a non-partisan career Foreign Service officer for more than 27 years, under five presidents, three Republicans and two Democrats,’ Kent said.
Swalwell presented the same question to Taylor.
‘Amb. Taylor, are you a Never Trumper?’ the House Intelligence Committee member asked.
Taylor had a shorter reply.
‘No, sir,’ he answered.
Trump – and his Republican allies – have tried to taint the witnesses in the impeachment inquiry as having political bias.
In his opening statement, Taylor tried to paint a different picture.
‘I am neither a career member of the Foreign Service nor of the civil service. I am non-partisan and have been appointed to my positions by every president from President Reagan to President Trump,’ Taylor said.