Thursday on CNN’s “The Lead,” host Jake Tapper said President Donald Trump was “using the U.S. military to get revenge” on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) by canceling her trip to Afghanistan and Belgium.
Tapper said, “The president of the United States using the U.S. military to get revenge on the speaker of the House.”
He continued, “Vengeance is his. President Trump announces Nancy Pelosi was headed to a war zone but he’s going to cancel her military aircraft.”
He added, “President Trump taking the stunning step to cancel the military aircraft that were to be be used right now by Nancy Pelosi and congressional delegation in a trip to Belgium and to Afghanistan. The president violating decades of security protocol by publicly announcing, ahead of time, a secret trip to a war zone. A Republican member of Congress telling me just minutes ago, members of Congress are always told never divulge any trip to a war zone until after you have left the war zone. The move by the president was widely interpreted as a response to Pelosi suggesting yesterday a delay or postponement of the president speaking to a joint session of Congress at the annual State of the Union because Pelosi said it was unfair to force security agents to work without pay.”
Tapper added, “A White House official tells CNN that Pelosi and members of Congress are welcome to fly commercial to Afghanistan, a remarkable statement given that the president just announced to the world, including the Taliban, that the Speaker of the House was headed there.”
Later in the segment, Tapper said, “I have to say I’ve been to Afghanistan twice, once with President Obama on Air Force One. Once I did actually fly commercially. I can’t believe they’re messing around with this. That is a serious flight and serious business. And I’m not the speaker of the House but you have a whole bunch of members of Congress going to Afghanistan to meet with troops and then announce to the world that this trip was going to happen. Did they think this through when they came up with this scheme?”
Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN
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