David Brock and other people who want Hillary Clinton to be president are freaking out over something Kevin McCarthy, most likely to be the next Speaker of the House, said about the Republican-led investigation into the Benghazi terrorist attacks.
It's disgraceful The @GOP exploited an American tragedy... all to take down @HillaryClinton https://t.co/YDJ94AGXpx cc: @GOPLeader
— David Brock (@davidbrockdc) September 30, 2015
During an interview with Sean Hannity, McCarthy cited the Benghazi committee as a noteworthy accomplishment because Hillary Clinton's poll numbers have gone down. BOOM, gaffed. The Beltway sprang to life to the sound of hundreds of fundraising emails being drafted in haste. All the people you'd expect to be outraged are appropriately outraged.
.@SpeakerBoehner & @TGowdySC need to end #Benghazi investigation & apologize to America for exploiting a tragedy http://t.co/z7y02eNijP — David Brock (@davidbrockdc) September 30, 2015
Not surprisingly, Clinton allies and Democrats all over Rep McCarthy statement that select Benghazi committee has driven down HRC standing
— carl hulse (@hillhulse) September 30, 2015
We always knew the Benghazi committee was about turning a tragedy into a political attack on HRC. Now the next Speaker is bragging about it!
— Sen. Barbara Boxer (@SenatorBoxer) September 30, 2015
A top House Republican was accidentally honest about the Benghazi investigation http://t.co/0joJKUHEMw pic.twitter.com/iuEVKfaacL — Vox (@voxdotcom) September 30, 2015
Kevin McCarthy's comments about Benghazi should raise a red flag for Republicans. http://t.co/JhA2D4zx1M pic.twitter.com/nNw5FG0D1n — Chris Cillizza (@TheFix) September 30, 2015
Obviously McCarthy shouldn't have said what he did, because politicians are never supposed to admit or even imply that the things they do are politically motivated, just like Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid justified his made-up assertion in 2012 that Mitt Romney didn't pay any taxes by noting that Romney "didn't win, did he?" Doing so could cause some voters to disapprove of Congress, and sully its impeccable reputation.
McCarthy's gaffe might cause some Americans to develop a somewhat cynical attitude towards our political system, in which politicians boycott the Pope and try to raise money off it, and attack presidential candidates for associating with a collector of historical artifacts (whose mother survived a Nazi U-boat attack) because his collection includes a signed copy of Mein Kampf.
What McCarthy said is objectively true. The Benghazi committee's investigation helped turn up information that otherwise might never have come to light, information (such as her secret private email server) that Hillary has been unable to explain without giving a majority of voters the impression that she is lying and can't be trusted, and that her email use should be subject to a criminal investigation. As a result, her poll numbers are down.
Meanwhile, the two candidates who most closely identify with a "burn it all to the ground" sentiment when it comes to the political status quo—Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump—are surging. Imagine that.