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Fox News Host Says With a Straight Face That Trump's Commutation of Blagojevich 'Doesn't Fit the Mission of Draining the Swamp'
Despite years of promises to "drain the swamp" during his campaign, President Donald Trump's three years in office have only seen the "swamp" of Washington grow in murkiness and depth.
Such was the case on Tuesday, when Trump used his executive power to free a rogues' gallery of corrupt politicians and businesspeople, including former Governor of Illinois, Rod Blagojevich.
Blagojevich infamously attempted to sell the Senate seat left vacant by the election of President Barack Obama in 2008 to the highest bidder, saying he wouldn't be "giving it up for nothing." The former governor was arrested over a decade ago and served eight years, before Donald Trump commuted his sentence.
Interestingly enough, Blagojevich competed on Trump's reality show Celebrity Apprentice before his conviction.
The commutation of Blagojevich's sentence struck was perplexing even to two of Trump's most loyal allies on Fox News's The Five: Jesse Watters and Greg Guttfeld.
Watch below.
Even Jesse Watters admits that Rod Blagojevich probably "got his sentence commuted because he was on Celebrity Appr… https://t.co/xwVCwe0lCP— Justin Baragona (@Justin Baragona) 1582065988.0
After co-host Dana Perino said Blagojevich's actions were "the definition of the swamp," Watters said:
"He tried to sell a Senate seat and then got caught. I think he probably got his sentence commuted because he was on Celebrity Apprentice, everybody knows probably it's a personal connection."
Watters went on to say that the former Governor's 14 year sentence was probably too harsh to begin with, before pivoting the conversation to a murder committed by an undocumented immigrant, whose lenient sentence Democrats allegedly applauded.
Guttfeld later added:
"This doesn't fit the mission of draining the swamp. Blago was one of the worst kind of swamp rats. He was selling a seat, and we did that story...we talked about what a crook he was and how bad he was...I would like to see other people more deserving of commutation."
People were stunned to see that even Fox News had to acknowledge that Trump's actions were out of line with his promises (shocker!).
it’s a bloody miracle: they’re right https://t.co/nYF2fAOvKe— Erin Altman (@Erin Altman) 1582073404.0
@justinbaragona @kathrynw5 When you lose Greg and Jesse you might have gone too far.......— Skinny Water (@Skinny Water) 1582066228.0
Even FoxNews can’t spin this. https://t.co/l1EUoJttXc— Stag 🦅 (@Stag 🦅) 1582074684.0
@justinbaragona Funny-nothing he does fits the mission of draining the swamp-he continues to build the biggest, bes… https://t.co/RJWLeNTsnr— Jennifer Reddicks (@Jennifer Reddicks) 1582082023.0
@justinbaragona It must be bad when state run media can’t even spin it— Blake Thomas (@Blake Thomas) 1582072528.0
Swamp status: https://t.co/vyKQyYRiuA https://t.co/oo8Ch6aDu2— Jake Tapper (@Jake Tapper) 1582072332.0
@justinbaragona The simple answer is that Trump has only added to the swamp. Trump and his family has lived in the… https://t.co/PjizQjUQBC— DG (@DG) 1582073257.0
In addition to Blagojevich, Trump pardoned or commuted the sentences of 10 others, most of whom were convicted on tax and fraud charges.
For an inside look at the Blagojevich scandal, check out Only in Chicago, available here.