Joe Biden led the audience at the Democratic debate in a standing ovation for Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, who was ousted that day from the White House after testifying in the impeachment trial.
Former Vice President Joe Biden took a pause during the Democratic debate on February 7 to recognize someone who wasn’t in the house that night. Hours before the candidates took the stage in New Hampshire, back in Washington, DC, Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman was being escorted out of the White House. Vindman, a decorated war veteran and the top Ukraine expert on the National Security Council, testified in the House impeachment trial, and for that, President Donald Trump retaliated. “I think we should all stand and give Colonel Vindman a show of how much we supported him,” Biden told the audience at Saint Anselm College. “Stand up and clap for Vindman. Get up there! Who we are. That’s who we are. We are not what Trump is,” he said, as the audience rose from their seats.
“[Trump] should have been pinning a medal on Vindman and not Rush Limbaugh,” Biden added, referencing the February 4 State of the Union, during which President Trump presented the bigoted radio host with the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Vindman, 44, provided crucial testimony against Trump in the House trial, testifying that his so-called “perfect phone call” with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy was actually “improper.” Trump was acquitted of both articles of impeachment — abuse of power and obstruction of Congress — in the Senate impeachment trial on February 5. “LTC Vindman was asked to leave for telling the truth,” Vindman’s attorney, David Pressman, said in a statement.
“The truth has cost LTC Alexander Vindman his job, his career and his privacy. The most powerful man in the world — buoyed by the silent, the pliable, and the complicit decided to exact revenge,” Pressman added. Vindman’s twin, who also worked for the NSC, was fired, as well. Both men have been reassigned to unspecified positions at the Department of the Army.
Joe Biden: "Col. Vindman got thrown out of the White House today…[Pres. Trump] should have been pinning a medal on Vindman and not on Rush Limbaugh."
Joe Biden called for the crowd to stand and applaud Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman. https://t.co/Rhy9aOaDTU #DemDebate pic.twitter.com/aWoLr6u10V
— ABC News (@ABC) February 8, 2020
NEW: Joe Biden calls on crowd at New Hampshire #DemDebate to "stand up and clap" for Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, an impeachment witness who was escorted from the White House today.
"That's who we are. We are not what Trump is." https://t.co/Rhy9aOaDTU pic.twitter.com/zI8VA6wEgS
— ABC News (@ABC) February 8, 2020
Trump continued what’s now being called his “Friday Night Massacre” by firing the United States ambassador to the European Union, Gordon Sondland. Sondland, 62, also testified in the House impeachment trial, telling Congress that Trump sought a “quid pro quo” arrangement with Zelenskiy. If you haven’t registered to vote yet, there’s still time to change that. The primaries have already begun, and the November general election is just around the corner. Use the form below to register and ensure your voice is heard in the 2020 race:
Sourse: hollywoodlife.com
