On Monday’s episode of CNN’s “News Central”—aka the official drama club for the Democratic Party—Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY) had a full-blown meltdown over President Donald Trump possibly receiving a luxury jet from Qatar.
Host John Berman kicked things off with his best “Can you believe this?” tone:
“Congressman, apparently the U.S. and Qatar are working out the final details of a gift, a big gift, a giant luxury 747 aircraft that President Trump is reportedly going to accept and the military is going to convert into being able to use as Air Force One. And then it may end up at the Trump presidential library after he leaves office. How do you feel about this gift?”
Cue Goldman, jumping at the chance to cry “corruption!” like it’s his favorite word:
“It is brazen corruption, a violation of the Constitution, the Foreign Emoluments Clause. It is a gift from a foreign government that is expressly not permitted under the Constitution and given that Donald Trump, as we know, is purely transactional, this gift, which ultimately will go to him, it’s not for the United States.”
Translation: Trump got something shiny, and the Democrats can’t stand it.
Goldman went on with more theatrical flair than a high school drama teacher:
“This is beyond anything that we’ve ever seen. And the fact that from my vantage point as a former ten year DOJ career prosecutor, to see that the attorney general has signed off on this, one of the most pathetic and weak legal analyzes I’ve ever seen, just underscores how far down the Department of Justice has fallen and how much in trouble we are that Donald Trump has really just remade our government for his own personal interests.”
Okay, Dan. Take a deep breath.
Let’s be real: the same people who were silent when foreign governments donated millions to the Clinton Foundation are now pretending to clutch their pearls over a plane that might end up in a presidential library one day.
If Trump got a jet and it’s being converted for Air Force One, it’s not exactly like he’s joyriding to Mar-a-Lago. But hey, when you’re a Democrat with no real agenda, “Orange Man Jet” is apparently the scandal of the week.