President Donald Trump took to social media Tuesday night to demand that Robert Karem, a Republican Senate staffer, be fired over an incident that took place earlier that day during a Senate hearing, one that Trump claimed made Sen. Mitch McConnell “look foolish and completely out of it.”
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth testified Tuesday before the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee, and in what Newsweek described as an “awkward moment,” the committee’s chair, McConnell, had to be reminded by a staffer “that several senators still had questions after he attempted to wrap up proceedings early.”
That staffer was Karem, who Trump accused of “grandstanding” and called for his immediate firing.
“This was a case where Mitch wasn’t confused, he just didn’t understand why he was being asked to do something when it was too late, and people were wrapping up to leave – They wanted to go home,” Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social.
“His name is Robert Karem, he is a Never Trumper, and was grandstanding – trying to show how ‘important’ he was! Karem has tremendous Democrat support, far greater than he should have, and is praised relentlessly by Obama’s people. He is probably the reason why Mitch McConnell is stupidly opposed to terminating the Filibuster, and refuses to help with a 97% issue, THE SAVE AMERICA ACT. FIRE THE BUM!”