'That I wouldn't do': CNN host forces Trump-allied GOP lawmaker to admit president's error
CNN's John Berman put a Republican lawmaker on the spot over President Donald Trump's call to prosecute a political foe and his son.
The president raged against Democratic donor and philanthropist George Soros and his son Alexander Soros in a Wednesday morning Truth Social post, saying the pair should be charged with racketeering for allegedly funding protests against his policies, and the "CNN News Central" host challenged Rep. Carlos Gimenez (R-FL) to justify the attack.
"Well, look, I mean, there was a heck of a lot of investigations that that on Donald Trump, and this was started by the other side," Gimenez said, "and so, look, George Soros, if he's done something wrong, then he should be investigated."
Berman asked the congressman whether Soros had done anything wrong and whether he believed the president should be calling for investigations in this manner, and Gimenez defended his post.
"You know, he's the president of the United States," Gimenez said. "He can see what's in front of him. If he feels that there's something going on, I think it's kind of his duty to say, 'Hey, there's something going on here, you need to look at it,' and if something comes out of it, then something comes out of it. Nothing comes out of it, then nothing comes out of it. But obviously the president feels there's something going on, and so, yeah, if he feels there's something going on, then he should bring it to the attention of the authorities and say, 'Hey, you need to look at this, because something's going on. I don't know if there's anything going on, but it should be looked into, and if there's nothing going on, then George Soros has nothing to fear. But if there is something going on, then, you know, like I said, nobody's above the law."
Berman asked the congressman to clarify that he believed prosecutions should be opened before any allegations had been made, and Gimenez backtracked.
"If you see something, if you see smoke, like I'm a firefighter, if you see smoke, maybe there's a fire there," Gimenez said. "Maybe you should investigate that. There's smoke coming out of there, and there may be a fire, and so, yeah, if he sees that there is a problem, smoke, you should look into it."
Berman pointed out that the president specified that he believes Soros and his son had violated the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act, and he called for them to be charged with violating it.
"He did say charged, he did say charged," Berman said. "He said 'charged with RICO,' not investigated. So in this case he's saying they should be charged."
Gimenez conceded that might not be appropriate in this case.
"That I wouldn't do," Gimenez said. "I wouldn't do charge, I would say look into it, and it deems that charges are necessary, then charges are necessary. But to to say and bring up that, 'Hey, you need to look at that,' I don't have a problem with that. Saying you need to charge it, yeah, he should wait for the investigation to see what happens and let, you know, the the justice system, you know, run its course, and if there's something there, then there's something there."
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