Fox Host Moves Goalposts on Trump-Ukraine: Quid Pro Quo Isn’t ‘Necessarily Illegal’
Following Thursday’s public release of the bombshell whistleblower complaint alleging that President Donald Trump tried to get Ukrainian authorities to do his political bidding ahead of 2020 by dangling the prospect of U.S. assistance, Fox Business Network host Lisa Kennedy Montgomery shifted the goalposts, insisting that a quid pro quo wasn’t technically “illegal.”
At the conclusion of acting Director of National Intelligence Joseph Maguire’s House testimony, Kennedy reacted by saying that House Democrats better have “something real” and “something big” as they head towards impeachment.
“They might,” she added during Thursday’s broadcast of Fox News’ Outnumbered. “I don’t think we’ve seen it yet. I don’t think they’ve seen it yet.”
As for the evidence that has already been presented in the whistleblower complaint, the now-infamous July 25 Ukraine call and the actual comments made by Trump and his personal attorney Rudy Giuliani, Kennedy claimed that this was just part of the job of being president.
“The problem is if responsible journalists go back and look at some of the same types of conversations and dealings and quid pro quo that's happened with past administrations,” the Fox host declared. “You might build a case that you've seen the exact same thing with President Clinton, and President Bush, and President Obama over and over and over again, particularly with allies — ‘allies’ — like Saudi Arabia and Turkey.”
Following this bit of whataboutism, Kennedy pivoted to lowering the bar and moving the goalposts, shifting away from conservatives' previous talking points.
“You know, quid pro quo means this for that,’’ she said. “That is not necessarily illegal, and I think every administration and every president can say, well, that's how you get things done. We've got something they want, so if we're going to exchange in order to get what is most beneficial for us.”
“The question is, and I don't think Democrats have done this yet, they have not drawn the line when it sort of falls over the cliff of illegality,” Kennedy continued. “And that's very, very important, and that has to be completely stark.”
Interestingly, earlier this week, Fox & Friends co-host Steve Doocy claimed it would be “off-the-rails wrong” if the president sought a quid pro quo from Ukraine. That statement, of course, came prior to the release of the whistleblower complaint.
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