NPR’s Tamara Keith: This Is The Retribution Presidency That Trump Said We Would See
AMNA NAWAZ, PBS NEWSHOUR: Before we go on, I want to ask both of you briefly just to respond to what we have seen in the last few days, which is a number of vocal critics of the president, from John Bolton to Adam Schiff to Chris Christie, being targeted either by federal action of some kind or online with threats from the president. Tam, how do you look at this? Is this the retribution presidency that John Bolton said we’d see? TAMARA KEITH, NPR: Well, it’s in fact the retribution presidency that President Trump said we would see. When he was campaigning, he said, “I will be your retribution.” Then there was a lot of pushback from critics who said, whoa, that sounds like dangerous territory. And he said, no, no, no, no, no, no, my success will be my retribution. No, retribution is retribution. We have seen time and time again not just these investigations now that are with the Justice Department, but also security clearances being taken away, protection from the Secret Service being stripped of people who are under threat, any number of firings up and down the Justice Department and other agencies. There’s a lot of retribution going on.
