SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
President Donald Trump holds up a newspaper that displays a headline "Acquitted" as he arrives to speak at the 68th annual National Prayer Breakfast on February 6, 2020 in Washington, D.C. (Photo: Nicholas Kamm/AFP via Getty Images)
After Trump Acquittal, White House Press Secretary Threatens 'Maybe Some People Should Pay' for Impeachment
"They have to know when the White House speaks, those words weigh a ton, and they are giving encouragement to people to do things," responded House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Feb 05, 2020
In a Fox News interview just hours after President Donald Trump was acquitted by the Senate on charges of abuse of power and obstructing Congress, White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham on Thursday threatened that "maybe some people should pay" for how Trump was treated during the impeachment proceedings.
"He's glad it's over, he'll certainly talk about that," Grisham said, pointing to the "victory" speech Trump is set to deliver from the White House at 12:00pm ET on Thursday. "But I think he's also going to talk about... just how horribly he was treated and, you know, that maybe people should pay for that."
Watch:
Parker Molloy, editor-at-large with Media Matters for America, pointed out on Twitter that "right before the 2018 midterms, a Trump superfan named Cesar Sayoc mailed 16 bombs to people he considered to be Trump's political enemies."
"If the goal isn't to inspire another person to do the same," Molloy wrote, "maybe speak with a little more clarity than 'maybe people should pay for that.'"
Asked about Grisham's comments during a press conference Thursday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said the "language is nothing that surprises anyone."
"But they have to know when the White House speaks, those words weigh a ton, and they are giving encouragement to people to do things," added Pelosi, who said she has been targeted with threats as a result of Trump's rhetoric.
Grisham's remarks came just after Trump flaunted his acquittal by the Republican-controlled Senate at the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington, D.C. Thursday morning, waving around a print copy of USA Today with the all-caps headline "ACQUITTED" plastered across the front page.
"As everybody knows, my family, our great country, and your president have been put through a terrible ordeal by some very dishonest and corrupt people," Trump said during his remarks at the event. "They have done everything possible to destroy us and, by so doing, very badly hurt our nation."
Trump went on to praise the 52 Republican senators who voted "not guilty," accuse House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) of lying about her vows to pray for him, and brag about the stock market.
As Vanity Fair's Gabriel Sherman reported ahead of the Senate vote, Trump--seeking "revenge" for his impeachment--has begun compiling an "enemies list" that consists of Reps. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.), and former national security adviser John Bolton, who congressional Democrats wanted to testify in the Senate trial on his first-hand knowledge of the president's effort to pressure Ukraine into launching investigations into his Democratic rivals.
"Trump, says a source, wants Bolton to be criminally investigated for possibly mishandling classified information," Sherman reported. "[Republican Sen. Mitt] Romney, Schiff, and Nadler are also in West Wing crosshairs."
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
In a Fox News interview just hours after President Donald Trump was acquitted by the Senate on charges of abuse of power and obstructing Congress, White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham on Thursday threatened that "maybe some people should pay" for how Trump was treated during the impeachment proceedings.
"He's glad it's over, he'll certainly talk about that," Grisham said, pointing to the "victory" speech Trump is set to deliver from the White House at 12:00pm ET on Thursday. "But I think he's also going to talk about... just how horribly he was treated and, you know, that maybe people should pay for that."
Watch:
Parker Molloy, editor-at-large with Media Matters for America, pointed out on Twitter that "right before the 2018 midterms, a Trump superfan named Cesar Sayoc mailed 16 bombs to people he considered to be Trump's political enemies."
"If the goal isn't to inspire another person to do the same," Molloy wrote, "maybe speak with a little more clarity than 'maybe people should pay for that.'"
Asked about Grisham's comments during a press conference Thursday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said the "language is nothing that surprises anyone."
"But they have to know when the White House speaks, those words weigh a ton, and they are giving encouragement to people to do things," added Pelosi, who said she has been targeted with threats as a result of Trump's rhetoric.
Grisham's remarks came just after Trump flaunted his acquittal by the Republican-controlled Senate at the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington, D.C. Thursday morning, waving around a print copy of USA Today with the all-caps headline "ACQUITTED" plastered across the front page.
"As everybody knows, my family, our great country, and your president have been put through a terrible ordeal by some very dishonest and corrupt people," Trump said during his remarks at the event. "They have done everything possible to destroy us and, by so doing, very badly hurt our nation."
Trump went on to praise the 52 Republican senators who voted "not guilty," accuse House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) of lying about her vows to pray for him, and brag about the stock market.
As Vanity Fair's Gabriel Sherman reported ahead of the Senate vote, Trump--seeking "revenge" for his impeachment--has begun compiling an "enemies list" that consists of Reps. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.), and former national security adviser John Bolton, who congressional Democrats wanted to testify in the Senate trial on his first-hand knowledge of the president's effort to pressure Ukraine into launching investigations into his Democratic rivals.
"Trump, says a source, wants Bolton to be criminally investigated for possibly mishandling classified information," Sherman reported. "[Republican Sen. Mitt] Romney, Schiff, and Nadler are also in West Wing crosshairs."
In a Fox News interview just hours after President Donald Trump was acquitted by the Senate on charges of abuse of power and obstructing Congress, White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham on Thursday threatened that "maybe some people should pay" for how Trump was treated during the impeachment proceedings.
"He's glad it's over, he'll certainly talk about that," Grisham said, pointing to the "victory" speech Trump is set to deliver from the White House at 12:00pm ET on Thursday. "But I think he's also going to talk about... just how horribly he was treated and, you know, that maybe people should pay for that."
Watch:
Parker Molloy, editor-at-large with Media Matters for America, pointed out on Twitter that "right before the 2018 midterms, a Trump superfan named Cesar Sayoc mailed 16 bombs to people he considered to be Trump's political enemies."
"If the goal isn't to inspire another person to do the same," Molloy wrote, "maybe speak with a little more clarity than 'maybe people should pay for that.'"
Asked about Grisham's comments during a press conference Thursday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said the "language is nothing that surprises anyone."
"But they have to know when the White House speaks, those words weigh a ton, and they are giving encouragement to people to do things," added Pelosi, who said she has been targeted with threats as a result of Trump's rhetoric.
Grisham's remarks came just after Trump flaunted his acquittal by the Republican-controlled Senate at the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington, D.C. Thursday morning, waving around a print copy of USA Today with the all-caps headline "ACQUITTED" plastered across the front page.
"As everybody knows, my family, our great country, and your president have been put through a terrible ordeal by some very dishonest and corrupt people," Trump said during his remarks at the event. "They have done everything possible to destroy us and, by so doing, very badly hurt our nation."
Trump went on to praise the 52 Republican senators who voted "not guilty," accuse House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) of lying about her vows to pray for him, and brag about the stock market.
As Vanity Fair's Gabriel Sherman reported ahead of the Senate vote, Trump--seeking "revenge" for his impeachment--has begun compiling an "enemies list" that consists of Reps. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.), and former national security adviser John Bolton, who congressional Democrats wanted to testify in the Senate trial on his first-hand knowledge of the president's effort to pressure Ukraine into launching investigations into his Democratic rivals.
"Trump, says a source, wants Bolton to be criminally investigated for possibly mishandling classified information," Sherman reported. "[Republican Sen. Mitt] Romney, Schiff, and Nadler are also in West Wing crosshairs."
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.