Except: Q Mr. President, what do you say to Democrats that say you were witness tampering this morning when you made that tweet (inaudible) Ambassador Yovanovitch?
THE PRESIDENT: You don’t want to talk about transparency?
Q Well, (inaudible).
THE PRESIDENT: You know, I’ll talk about transparency. I like transparency here. And I’m the most transparent President in history.
And I’ll tell you about what tampering is. Tampering is when a guy like Shifty Shift [sic] doesn’t let us have lawyers. Tampering is when Schiff doesn’t let us have witnesses, doesn’t let us speak. I’ve been watching today. For the first time, I started watching and it’s really sad when you see people not allowed to ask questions. It’s totally — nobody has ever had such horrible due process. There was no due process. And I think it’s —
Q Republicans have been asking questions all day.
THE PRESIDENT: — I think it’s considered a joke all over Washington and all over the world. The Republicans are given no due process whatsoever. We’re not allowed to do anything. It’s a disgrace what’s happening. But you know what? The American public understands it. And that’s why the poll numbers are so good. And that’s why other things are so good. What they’re doing in Washington with that hearing — and, by the way, it’s a political process. It’s not a legal process.
So if I have somebody saying, I’m allowed to speak up. If somebody says about me, we’re not allowed to have any kind of representation, we’re not allowed to have almost anything. And nobody has seen anything like it. In the history of our country there has never been a disgrace like what’s going on right now. So, you know what? I — I have the right to speak. I have freedom of speech, just as other people do. But they’ve taken away the Republicans’ rights.
And I watched today, as certain very talented people wanted to ask questions, and they weren’t even allowed to ask questions — Republicans. They weren’t allowed to ask questions. It’s a very sad thing.
Go ahead.
Q Why did you attack her?
Q Sir, with your freedom, were you trying to intimidate Ambassador Yovanovitch?
THE PRESIDENT: I just want to have a total — I want freedom of speech. That’s a political process. The Republicans have been treated very badly. And I watched a little bit of it today. I wasn’t able to yesterday because we had the President of Turkey here, and I wasn’t able to watch much. I watched some of it this morning. I thought it was a disgrace.
When we have great Republican representatives — people elected by the people — and they’re not allowed to even ask a question, they’re not allowed to make a statement; we’re not allowed to have witnesses; we’re not allowed to have legal counsel, White House Counsel — it’s a disgrace and it’s an embarrassment to our nation.
Q Do you believe your tweets and your words can be intimidating, sir?
THE PRESIDENT: Yes — go ahead, please.
Q Sir, do you believe your tweets and words —
THE PRESIDENT: Quiet. Quiet.
Q — can be intimidating, sir?
THE PRESIDENT: Quiet. Please.
Q Sir, do you believe your tweets and words can be intimidating?
THE PRESIDENT: I don’t think so at all.
Go ahead.
Q Mr. President, do you think you’re going to get impeached?
THE PRESIDENT: Well, I shouldn’t be. In fact, I thought, last night, it ended. Because last night, I was in Louisiana, where we’re going to hopefully elect a great governor — a Republican governor. And I was getting off the plane, and they handed me a statement that was just made by the Foreign Minister and President of the Ukraine.
And Ukraine — they came out loud and clear that there was no linkage whatsoever, not even a little bit. And you saw it. You all saw it. I said, “Oh, well, that ends the impeachment.” And you people don’t even report it.
Look, the press is unbelievably dishonest. That was a major statement put out last night by the Foreign Minister of Ukraine and also by the President of Ukraine, and you don’t even report it. It’s a disgrace. Because it’s sad. There was absolutely no linkage. We had a perfect conversation.
And I also, because of transparency — whether it’s medical transparency or just transparency, generally — I also put out, today, a statement. And in the statement, we released — and then Congressman Nunes read — a call that I had with the President of Ukraine. And it was a great call. It was a very nice call. Everybody said it was perfect. I always say it was equally as good as the other call.
And I put it out today, and nobody even wants to report it. Because it was so good, they don’t want to report it.
Look, if we had an honest press in this country, we would be so well served. And you know what? When I look at your approval numbers, they’re the worst they’ve ever been in the history of our country. The media, the approval numbers — they are horrible. And you ought to get yourself back and you ought to put yourself back in a position where people respect the media again.
And I know some great journalists, I know some great people in the media, but there aren’t enough of them. There’s a lot of dishonesty. And many of you, I just consider members of the Democrats, and it’s a shame.
Okay. Thank you all very much. Thank you. (Applause.)
END
