Republicans don’t have a strong argument against the qualifications of President-elect Biden’s nominees, so instead they’ve picked a fight over the tweets of his nominee for OMB director. That’s after more than four years of defending or ignoring Trump’s tweets — tweets that are sexist, racist, urge interference in our election, and more — by claiming they don’t read Twitter and the president’s tweets don’t represent his official positions. Irony is dead, but Republican hypocrisy is alive and well.
Reporters and commentators from both sides of the aisle agree — Senate Republicans’ faux outrage about a few tweets is hypocrisy at its finest.
CNN’s Brianna Keilar: “Trump amnesia is sweeping through Washington. Republicans who selectively ignored all kinds of transgressions by President Trump have suddenly regained their moral and ethical standards now that Democrats have taken control of the White House.”
CNN’s Dana Bash: “It’s so wonderful that the Republican senators who didn’t see any of the president’s tweets are suddenly looking at old tweets from people like Neera Tanden.”
MSNBC’s Mika Brzezinski: “Republicans are having little fits over [Neera Tanden’s] tweets, and I just wonder, on what planet can they be taken seriously?”
NBC News’s Chuck Todd: “Forgive me for laughing… Are there really elected Republican senators who with a straight face are going to use mean tweets as a reason not to confirm somebody?”
NBC News’s Leigh Ann Caldwell: “It’s quite rich considering we spent the last four years… Republicans saying, ‘Policy is not done by Twitter. I did not read [Trump’s] tweets. I don’t follow Twitter.’ On and on and on.”
Senator Claire McCaskill: “Are these guys really with a straight face gonna say that they will not confirm a qualified candidate because their feelings were hurt by some of her tweets? … The president’s tweets have been brutal to Republicans. He is mean to them all the time.”
Senator Mazie Hirono: “Rampant hypocrisy is what [Republicans] exhibit all the time.”
Stephanie Cutter: “The hypocrisy is very real.”
Bulwark’s Tim Miller: “These people pretended like they didn’t see the president of the United States’s tweets for four years and now we’re to believe that they have their feelings hurt over some tweet Neera Tanden sent six years ago? Give me a break.”
Fox News’s Richard Fowler: “Last time I checked, when it comes to maybe calling people names on Twitter and saying bad things about people on Twitter, I’m going to point you to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.”
Jesse Ferguson: “Ric Grenell smeared Democrats, especially women, on twitter for a decade. Senate GOP voted to confirm him for Trump. Neera Tanden told the truth about GOP Congress and hurt the feelings of Senate GOP. Now, some GOPers will threaten to not even have a hearing to confirm her.”
Time Magazine: “For the last four years, Republicans have gone out of their way to ignore Trump’s near-constant tweet-raging. If Trump’s tweets carried no political price, how can Tanden’s nomination be in question for a fraction of the froth?”
Daily Beast’s Sophia Nelson: “The same guy who managed to hear no evil when it comes to Donald Trump is shocked, shocked than a Democrat said mean things about Republicans.”
Washington Monthly’s Matthew Cooper: “Republicans are shocked that this Green Room regular has said critical things about the GOP. After more than two decades in the policy and political wars, it would be weird if the 50-year-old hadn’t.”
Washington Post’s Jennifer Rubin: “You spent four years ignoring far more incendiary tweets from Trump, so what’s your real beef?”
NBC News’s Stephanie Ruhle: “So…. @neeratanden is too partisan, but @MickMulvaneyOMB isn’t?”
Politico’s Ben White: “I can’t even really get to grips with the irony of @neeratanden getting ripped by Republicans over some of not very nice tweets.”
HuffPost’s S.V. Dáte: They confirmed Ric Grenell, didn’t they? The man’s got a doctorate in Mean Tweets.”
Daily Beast’s Molly Jong-Fast: “Do republicans feel even the slightest bit sheepish talking about a Biden nominees tweets when they supported a president who governed largely by tweet?”
GQ Magazine’s Julia Ioffe: “So, what, exactly is the ‘controversy’ about @neeratanden? Or do Republicans in the Senate now think that tweets are disqualifying?”
Bloomberg’s Tim O’Brien: “Hilarious to see Mick Mulvaney — a hyper-partisan politico before he became Trump’s OMB director — quoted in here criticizing Neera Tanden for being an ‘out of the mainstream’ Biden pick to run OMB now.”
The Atlantic’s Edward-Isaac Dovere: “It’ll be quite the sight to watch Republican senators take offense at @neeratanden’s old tweets in a confirmation fight after years of many of those same Republican senators saying they managed to never see any of @realDonaldTrump ‘s tweets”
CNN’s Ana Navarro-Cárdenas: “Whether u know who @neeratanden is or not, here is the thing….if u spent the last 4 years pretending u didn’t read Trump’s disgraceful tweets, refused to comment on them, or worse yet, defended them…u got no moral standing to whine about Neera’s mean tweets. None. Zero. Nada.”
CNN’s Paul Begala: “Kind of amusing how GOP senators who were just fine with Trump’s tweets now have the vapors over @neeratanden’s.”
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