Tavis Smiley: ‘Tough’ To Watch Pence ‘Twist Like a Pretzel’ Defending ‘Unprincipled’ Trump
RUSH EXCERPT:
SMILEY: "I think it’s about style and substance. It’s a bit of both, number one. Number two, I’m from Indiana, as you know, and I saw the vice president in the green room, so we chatted. And I like him as a person. But it’s tough to sit there and watch him twist like a pretzel to try to defend a presidency that is clearly so unprincipled on these issues, number one. Number two, I would take exception to one thing. I think you’re probably right, Chuck, it is not a moral equivalency, but it is, to my mind, an immoral equivalency. Which is to say that Dr. King was a frequent guest on this very program. And 50 years ago in April of this year, in his “beyond Vietnam” speech, used these words. He called America “the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today.” So it’s not a moral equivalency, it’s an immoral equivalency. And on this one issue, President Trump is right, that we are not a perfect country. Now, Vladimir Putin’s a bad guy. But I’m not ever going to get into a situation where I’m trying to defend all that America has done. So your question was, “What has the president done?” Maybe not the president, but the apparatus of the American military state, we could have that conversation."