President Trump on Thursday took aim at the
“People say, ‘How do you get through that whole stuff. How do you go through those witch hunts and everything else?’ ” Trump told the crowd gathered in the White House Rose Garden.
“And you know what we do, Mike? We just do it,” he continued, gesturing toward Vice President Pence. “And we think about God. That’s true.”
{mosads}The remarks came after Trump quoted the Bible during an event in the Rose Garden with faith leaders, lawmakers and administration officials. Trump has courted the support of religious leaders throughout his presidency. At Thursday’s event, Trump invited Rabbi Yisroel Goldstein to speak, his hands still wrapped in bandages due to injuries he sustained in the shooting at his Chabad of Poway congregation last week.
“As God promises in the Bible, those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength; they will soar on the wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary; and they will walk and not be faint,” Trump said.
“That’s something that Mike and I think about all the time. Right, Mike?” Trump continued, eliciting some laughs from attendees.
“What do you think, Mike?” he added. “I think so. Hey, we deserve it.”
Trump routinely derides special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election as a “witch hunt” and a “hoax.”
He has welcomed the investigations’ core findings that did not establish his campaign conspired with the Russian government to influence the election and did not implicate him in obstruction of justice. Trump has celebrated the report, a redacted version of which was recently released, for allegedly exonerating him on obstruction of justice, though Mueller made a point to say that the findings did not exonerate him.
Attorney General William Barr endured a grilling from the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday over his handling of Mueller’s report, with Democrats accusing him of bungling its release and allowing the White House to spin a favorable narrative about its findings. The attorney general then skipped a hearing scheduled for Thursday in front of the House Judiciary Committee.
The president has also lashed out at House Democrats over their investigations into his administration, accusing the opposing party of “presidential harassment” for seeking records and testimony from White House officials related to Trump’s personal finances and businesses.