Transcript: Senator’s Harsh Takedown of Trump Hits Home: “Bone Spurs!”

Litman: I mean, I think that is a powerful reminder, because through so much of the first Trump administration and even in the lead-up to and the initial period of the second, we have been told that a major protection against the excesses of the administration would be other members of the federal executive branch who would be willing to adhere to their legal obligations, their constitutional duties, their moral obligations, even if the leaders of the administration wouldn’t do so.

And we did see some examples of that during the first Trump administration, whether it was individuals who were part of the executive branch refusing to go along with Trump’s allegations of voter fraud or whatnot. And I think Senator Kelly is appealing to that same duty, that same obligation, but for a group of people that he was a part of and is a retired service member. And he’s trying to appeal to their sense of duty, loyalty, and obligation that other people have felt and acted on.

Sargent: Yeah, and I think it’s really good to have Democrats talking this way. Don’t you? I mean, it’s really good for Democrats to be getting out there in a very kind of prominent sense and saying, you know, there are actual values and rules and laws that are worth standing up for here. And this guy is just trampling them regularly, including with this attack on Kelly.