Donald Trump Cites Fox News’ Gregg Jarrett & Mark Levin In Defending Ukraine Call As “Perfect”

Ted Johnson

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In his first remarks since the conclusion of daylong testimony in the impeachment hearing, President Donald Trump continued to insist that it was a waste of time and a “hoax.”

Trump and Turkey’s President Tayyip Erdogan held a joint news conference at the White House, but the first question had to do with the Day 1 of public testimony in the impeachment inquiry.

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“You are talking about the witch hunt?” Trump said when asked by a reporter for One America News Network about his general impressions. “I hear it is a joke. I haven’t watched. I haven’t watched for one minute because I have been with the president, which is much more important as far as I am concerned. This is a sham. It shouldn’t be allowed.”

Trump continued to insist that he did nothing wrong on the July 25 phone call with Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, and that the transcript summary of the call confirms it.

“If you read the transcript — this was analyzed by great lawyers,” Trump said. “This was analyzed by Gregg Jarrett. It was analyzed by Mark Levin. It was analyzed by everybody.”

Jarrett and Levin are Fox News personalities and longtime defenders of the president.

In the transcript summary, Trump asks Zelensky to investigate Joe Biden and his son, Hunter, who was on the board of a Ukrainian gas company when his father was vice president.

Later, Fox News’ John Roberts asked Trump about one of the bigger revelations to come from Thursday’s hearing. That was when William Taylor, the top diplomat in Ukraine, testified that one of his staffers was with Gordon Sondland, the U.S. ambassador to the European Union, at a restaurant. Sondland called Trump and “the member of my staff could hear President Trump on the phone, asking Ambassador Sondland about ‘the investigations.’ Ambassador Sondland told President Trump that the Ukrainians were ready to move forward.”

Trump told Roberts: “I know nothing about that. First time I’ve heard it.”

At joint news conferences with foreign leaders, it is typical for questions to alternate between U.S. reporters and those of the other country. When it came to Erdogan’s time to call on one of the reporters from his country, Trump urged him to call a “friendly reporter.” Turkey has been in the midst of a press crackdown.

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