‘You’re Not Being Honest Or Forthright’: Nominee Slammed for Election Non-answer
Pick for top intelligence job won’t say that Joe Biden beat Donald Trump
Donald Trump’s nominee to become the nation’s top intelligence official was skewered for not giving a clear answer to the question of who won the 2020 presidential election.
Jay Clayton, Trump’s pick to be the next director of national intelligence, withered under questioning from Sen Jon Ossoff (D-Ga), who refused to let Clayton off the hook when it was obvious that he didn’t want to answer.
The encounter happened Wednesday, during Clayton’s confirmation hearing before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence.
Trump has long denied the truth that he lost the 2020 presidential election to Democrat Joe Biden, repeating false claims ad nauseam that that election was somehow stolen. It was those falsehoods that spurred Trump supporters to attack the US Capitol on January 6, 2021.
Those who work for Trump and support him typically go out of their way not to displease the current president by contradicting his untrue claims.
Ossoff asked Clayton about the 2020 election directly: “Who won the 2020 election?”
“Uhm, you know, I’m not going to do this with you,” Clayton replied.
The senator pressed the issue.
“This is a job interview. You have an obligation to be honest with the committee. Who won the 2020 election?”
“I’m not gonna get into that with you,” Clayton repeated.
Ossoff, calmly, would not let the nominee squirm away.
“You’re not being honest or forthright,” the senator said.
Ossoff won plaudits for his work.
“One thing I really like about Ossoff is his seriousness. He’s genuinely disgusted here, not merely camera-disgusted,” writer and author Mark Harris posted.
And Clayton was skewered for his dishonesty.
“If the head of US intelligence isn’t able to say who won the election in 2020, then maybe he shouldn’t be head of US intelligence,” Anne Applebaum, a longtime journalist and democracy scholar, posted on social media.
View a clip of Ossoff questioning Clayton here:
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