NEW: Republicans wanted @SecBlinken’s appearances before the House and Senate foreign relations committees to be fodder for a Benghazi-like scandal. Instead, they ended up shouting about op-eds and asking nonsense questions about White House livestreams. independent.co.uk/voices/blinken…
.@SenateForeign Ranking Member @SenatorRisch used his time to ask Blinken who is responsible for ending broadcasts of @WhiteHouse events. White House spox @MGwin46 called it “cheapening [the] hearing by peddling baseless and bizarre conspiracy theories.” independent.co.uk/voices/blinken…
Former Deputy SecState for Legislative Affairs @JoelMartinRubin said the GOP’s performance shows how Republicans “have recycled talking-points that they tell each other and are caught in their own inner feedback loop on their own disinformation platforms.” independent.co.uk/voices/blinken…
One GOP consultant explained Republicans’ attempt at a strategy for the hearings thusly: “They’re trying to rerun the Benghazi playbook and turn Blinken into Susan Rice or Hillary Clinton.”independent.co.uk/voices/blinken…
But the consultant noted that such a strategy had obviously flaws: “The problem with that is no one really knows who Blinken is outside of Washington, and he’s not the president or a candidate for office.”independent.co.uk/voices/blinken…
Another problem with the GOP’s Benghazian gambit, the consultant said, was that @SecBlinken didn’t take the bait: “He’s a pro and doesn’t lose his cool, so they end up looking like a bunch of clownish screaming hyenas when they don’t get a rise out of him.”independent.co.uk/voices/blinken…
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