Democrat Ponders Ukraine Leader's Daughter 'Duct-Taped' in Trump's Basement
Rep. Hank Johnson (D-GA) imagines president kidnapping Zelensky's 15-year-old child
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During Thursday’s House Judiciary Committee hearing on articles of impeachment, Democrat Rep. Hank Johnson (D-GA) went on a bizarre rant about Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky’s daughter being "duct-taped" in President Donald Trump’s basement.
Democrats on the committee were trying to push back against public claims from Zelensky’s that he felt no pressure to investigate the Bidens from Trump.
Johnson, who was sat alongside a smirking Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN), attempted to suggest that Trump's larger stature over Zelensky's smaller frame was evidence of bullying from the US leader.
The Georgia Democrat then suggested that physical "imbalance" between the two men during their previous meeting implied President Trump had kidnapped Zelensky's daughter and was holding her prisoner "in the basement, duct-taped."
Zelensky and those around him have repeatedly stated that there was never any pressure or talk of a “quid pro quo” to tie U.S. security assistance to investigations into 2016 election interference or former Vice President Joe Biden.
During a press conference, while meeting with Trump in September at the United Nations, Zelensky said his July 25th phone conversation with Trump had been a “good call.”
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Rep. Johnson claimed that Zelensky's denials of pressure suggested President Trump had kidnapped his daughter and was holding him to ransom.
Johnson made the comments while pushing back on the notion that President Zelensky was weak, saying, “Well, I’ll tell you that brings to mind the picture of President Trump and President Zelensky meeting in New York in September at the U.N. and a big chair for President Trump, little chair for President Zelensky.”
“Big, six-foot-four President Trump, five-foot-eleven President Zelensky.
"And they’re standing there, President Trump is holding court, and he says, ‘Oh, by the way, no pressure,'” Johnson continued.
“And you saw President Zelensky shaking his head as if his daughter was downstairs in the basement, duct-taped.”
“I mean, there’s an imbalance of power in that relationship. It always has been,” Johnson concluded.
“And there’s no way that the nation of Ukraine can stand up to the power, the power of the United States of America.
"And President Trump used that unequal bargaining position, he leveraged his power in that relationship, not for the benefit of the United States of America, but for his own benefit.”
Deranged. pic.twitter.com/gzrxE7iAiY
— Breitbart News (@BreitbartNews) December 13, 2019
Shortly after Johnson made the remarks, the White House fired back on social media by writing on Twitter:
“JUST IN: Democrats want to impeach the President for [checks notes] being too tall.”
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The White House then posted a picture of President Trump and President Zelensky sitting side-by-side at the meeting that Johnson claimed that Trump had a much bigger chair than Zelenky that clearly shows that the two leaders had the exact same chair.
🤷♂️ pic.twitter.com/KGY5zyrUGs
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) December 12, 2019
Johnson is well known over remarks he made during a House Armed Services Committee in 2010 when he questioned Admiral Robert Willard, commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, about the impact of increasing the number of U.S. troops on the island of Guam.
“My fear is that the whole island will become so overly populated that it will tip over and capsize,” Johnson said in a serious manner.
“We don’t anticipate that,” Willard responded.
Here ya go. pic.twitter.com/M9oUZCg9mU
— Arthur Schwartz (@ArthurSchwartz) December 13, 2019
Johnson, who claimed this week that he did not support impeaching Trump until Democrats began their impeachment investigations into him a couple of months ago, directly compared the president to Nazi leader Adolf Hitler at the start of the year.
“Americans elected an authoritarian, racist, anti-immigrant strongman to the nation’s highest office,” Johnson said.
“Americans, particularly black Americans, can’t afford to make that same mistake about the harm that could be done by a man named Hitler or a man named Trump.”
Rep. Hank Johnson (D-GA): "Donald Trump and his Make America Great Again followers...are older, less educated, less prosperous, and they are dying early. Their life spans are decreasing, and many are dying from alcoholism, drug overdoses, liver disease, or simply a broken heart." pic.twitter.com/YYmwopUZDm
— Ryan Saavedra (@RealSaavedra) January 3, 2019
Johnson also mocked Trump supporters, saying, “Donald Trump and his Make America Great Again followers…are older, less educated, less prosperous, and they are dying early.
"Their life spans are decreasing, and many are dying from alcoholism, drug overdoses, liver disease, or simply a broken heart.”
