Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) winced at the beginning of "Meet the Press" on Sunday because of host Chuck Todd's "very biased opening." Todd invited Johnson on the show to discuss the whistleblower complaint against President Trump, which accuses the commander in chief of trying to get a foreign leader to dig up dirt on his political rival Joe Biden. Reports show that Biden's son Hunter sat on the board of a corrupt Ukrainian gas company.
Todd began Sunday's interview by quoting how Johnson reacted to reports the president may have threatened to withhold military aid to Ukraine if they didn't agree to look into the Biden scandal. The congressman responded in frustration at the narrative Todd was trying to spin. The host, in turn, accused Johnson of trying to defer an answer and attack the media.
WATCH: @Chucktodd says @SenRonJohnson is "trying to make Donald Trump feel better" by bringing up a conspiracy theory instead of answering a question about his quote in a recent WSJ article. #MTP #IfItsSunday pic.twitter.com/1Xsq6zE3Ak
— Meet the Press (@MeetThePress) October 6, 2019
"This is not about the media," Todd said, starting to get red. "Senator Johnson, please! Can you please answer the question that I asked you instead of trying to make Donald Trump feel better here."
Todd demanded Johnson answer his question about the president potentially being guilty of quid pro quo.
"When I asked the president about that, he completely denied it," Johnson said. "He adamantly denied it. He vehemently, angrily denied it."
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The Republican added that Trump is not trying "to dig up dirt." Instead, Johnson said, Trump "wants an accounting of 2016," when it appeared as though Trump was the victim of Ukraine's interference. The president too told the press he wasn't interested in the politics of it and insisted he was trying to weed out corruption.
Others weren't so quick to take Trump at his word. Democrats, even before reading the full whistleblower complaint or the transcript of the call between Trump and Zelensky, launched an impeachment inquiry against the president.
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