There was a long-running joke about Republicans on Capitol Hill who would come up with excuses not to comment on things Donald Trump said, did or tweeted while he was president. Even the New York Times wrote about their knack of ignoring Trump's actions and words.
That meme returned to Capitol Hill on Thursday after Trump's combative question-and-answer session with the National Association of Black Journalists.
NOTUS reporter Haley Byrd Wilt caught up with several senators in Washington during the August recess. Among her questions was about Vice President Kamala Harris' race, which Trump questioned, claiming Harris "happened to turn Black."
Read also: 'That's a lie': The 10 quotes Trump said to Black journalists that led to outbursts
Harris is biracial and has spoken extensively about her mother from India and her father from Jamacia.
"Is she Black or is she Indian?" Trump asked the audience to boos.
Some Republicans dismissed the comment.
"Oh, well, you know he’s not serious,” Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) dismissed it when talking to NOTUS. “You know he’s not serious."
Trump doubled down on the comment, and it's a comment that his lawyer, Alina Habba, echoed at his rally Wednesday night.
Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH), Trump's vice presidential running mate, joined in the attack.
“She is not who she pretends to be,” Vance said when speaking to reporters at a Pheonix rally. “She’ll say one thing to one audience, another thing to another audience. … She’s flip-flopped on every issue. She’s fake, she’s phony.”
“Oh, you wouldn’t be talking about it? Really?” Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) told NOTUS. “I think we can actually fact-check that statement that you wouldn’t be talking about it. You’re going to talk about it regardless. I get it, you — the press — will attack relentlessly.”
"I don’t do interviews on President Trump,” Sen. James Risch (R-ID) said before reporters asked the question.
Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) promised he “didn’t hear the comments.”
Then pivoted: “Actually, at the time, I was giving a speech on the Senate floor. I really was.”
So, reporters told him what was said. He refused to respond.
“I’m always talking about issues,” Scott said. “I didn’t see the comment. What I talk to Trump about is issues.”
Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) said he doesn't want to talk about anything other than policy.
“I’m not commenting on that,” said Sen. Deb Fischer (R-NE). “If you’d like to ask me what we’re doing in appropriations, I’d love to talk with you.”
Politico Playbook said Thursday morning, "Just ask Hill Republicans, who are privately freaking out over Trump's latest broadsides."
Axios quoted Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO): "Not a great idea for either of the parties to be playing racial identity politics."
"I think the better approach is to focus on the policies of Kamala Harris," said Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT).
Speaking to MSNBC, Lincoln Project co-founder Rick Wilson said, "There's no real strategy in this."
He claimed that from what he has heard, there is a division in the campaign between professionals like Susie Wiles, "who want Donald Trump to please shut the hell up," and his "lizard brain telling him what to do."
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