Pesce writes: "The Trump administration is getting medieval in the impeachment trial, according to a CBS News report."
Republican senators Sen. Lindsey Graham, Sen. John Barrasso, Sen. Bill Cassidy, Sen. John Thune, and Senate Majority Leader Sen. Mitch McConnell. (photo: Alex Wong/Getty)
24 January 20
The alleged threat during the impeachment trial stoked strong reactions on Twitter
he Trump administration is getting medieval in the impeachment trial, according to a CBS News report.
“Vote against the President and your head will be on a pike.”
As House Democrats continued to present their opening arguments in the impeachment trial accusing President Trump of abusing his power on Thursday, a Trump confidant told CBS News that Republican senators were warned about voting against the commander-in-chief.
In opening statements, House managers examined the debunked conspiracy theories invoked by Pres. Trump.
— CBS Evening News (@CBSEveningNews) January 23, 2020
A @POTUS confidant tells CBS News that GOP senators were warned: “vote against the president & your head will be on a pike.”
Here's @nancycordes https://t.co/LV1Y6QveIh pic.twitter.com/tLB9EpoWr8
The White House did not immediately respond to a MarketWatch request for comment.
That warning went viral, with #HeadOnAPike trending on Twitter TWTR, -2.63% on Friday morning. Some critics argued that this amounts to witness tampering, or compared them to “mob tactics” or something that “Game of Throne’s” fictional King Joffrey would say.
President Trump's people told the Senate GOP, "Vote against the President and your head will be on a pike."
— Operative_X (@OperativeXRay) January 24, 2020
I dunno about you guys, but that doesn't sound like #BeBest to me.
In fact, it kinda sounds like jury tampering...But hey, MAGA, you do you.
#HeadOnAPike
These are mob tactics by the president of the United States. #HeadOnAPike https://t.co/HXvzLTfdw9
— Frank Galpin ☽☮☾ (@artkincell) January 24, 2020
Blatant witness intimidation. There’s no doubt we have a mobster in the White House #HeadOnAPike https://t.co/Krsj4N1RqI
— DenizenoftheRabbitHole (@NinaInsardi) January 24, 2020
Isn’t this called jury tampering?#HeadOnAPike pic.twitter.com/GThhHc0x08
— Hoodlum (@HoodlumRIP) January 24, 2020
Trump, the childhood days... #HeadOnAPike pic.twitter.com/EhTVOtndX5
— Kelly Hope (@DanKellyHope) January 24, 2020
Others expressed dismay at the country’s devolving political discourse
Me logging on to Twitter and seeing #HeadOnAPike trending under politics: pic.twitter.com/RJW63capvY
— mtman318 (@mtman318) January 24, 2020
But Trump supporters questioned the credibility of an unnamed source. “An anonymous CBS reporter, is allegedly reporting that a ‘POTUS confidant’ has anonymously warned GOP Senators who have not been named or confirmed, that an alleged warning has been received from an anonymous source,” mused one under the Twitter handle UTChargerTom.
A POTUS confidant ... is that like those anonymous sources familiar with the situation the press loves to quote? This is such a lie, folks. Think. #HeadOnAPike
— The FOO (@PolitiBunny) January 24, 2020
The president is widely expected to be acquitted in the Senate trial, as Republicans hold 53 of the Senate’s 100 seats. Read MarketWatch’s impeachment coverage here.
