Schiff: Trump Tweeting I Have ‘Not Paid The Price’ Is ‘Intended To Be’ A Threat
Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) was quick to classify President Trump’s Sunday tweet aimed at him as a threat during an interview on MSNBC’s “Meet the Press.”
On Sunday morning, Trump tweeted that Schiff “has not paid the price.” Although it’s unclear whether the President referred to a specific incident in the tweet, it comes two days after Schiff cited a CBS report — which reported an anonymous threat that the White House made to Senate Republicans to put their “head on a pike” if they voted against Trump in the impeachment trial — in his closing arguments Friday. Schiff’s remarks swiftly drew backlash from GOP senators.
When asked by MSNBC’s Chuck Todd what he makes of the backlash he received from some Republican senators — which include senators pivotal in the vote for witnesses such as Sens. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Susan Collins (R-ME) and Joni Ernst (R-IA) — who took issue with his “head on a pike” comment, Schiff said “I don’t think it was personal to refer to the CBS story.”
“What may be personal though, and I think I have to be very candid about this, is I made the argument that it’s going to require moral courage to stand up to this President,” Schiff said. “And this is a wrathful and vindictive President. I don’t think there’s any doubt about it.”
Schiff then pointed to Trump’s Sunday morning tweet aimed at him, saying that “if you think there is [any doubt about Trump being wrathful], look at the President’s tweets about me today, saying that I should pay a price.”
After Todd asked him if he takes the tweet as a threat, Schiff responded that he thinks “it’s intended to be” before going onto argue “it is going to be very difficult for some of these senators to stand up to this President.”
“It really is — there’s no question about it and I want to acknowledge that. And I don’t want to acknowledge it in a way that is offensive to them,” Schiff said. “But I do want to speak candidly about it. And if this weren’t an issue, there wouldn’t be an issue about calling witnesses. If we can’t even get the senators to agree to call witnesses in a trial, it shows you just how difficult that moral courage is.”
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