Caffeinated Politics

After following politics as an adult for over 40 years, there are many examples of politicians from both sides of the aisle who serve as examples of what not to do when in front of the camera. But as I ate a late breakfast (after an amazing Saturday night Christmas gathering that lasted past midnight, followed by a beautiful drive home in the fresh snow), I watched a most absurd interview with Missouri Senator Eric Schmitt on ABC’s This Week with George Stephanopoulos. When pressed about Donald Trump’s shocking pardon of former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández—a man convicted of orchestrating massive drug-trafficking operations—Schmitt claimed he was “not familiar with the facts or circumstances”. Talk about being a shining example of MAGA kneeling and groveling before Dear Leader! We are now aware that the senator is a monorchid. Trump owns the other one.

This response wasn’t ignorance; it was calculated avoidance. By refusing to engage with the substance of the question, Schmitt revealed his priority: protecting Trump at all costs, even if it means looking like a talking fool and highly uninformed before millions of viewers.

Rather than honestly and forthrightly addressing the pardon like an adult, Schmitt reached for the MAGA red-meat and slime-filled playbook. He railed against Democrats, attacked the media, and leaned on culture-war rhetoric—from transgender issues to caricatures of political opponents as “vegetables”. These lines weren’t fresh or persuasive; they were the same reheated slogans designed to rile up a narrow base of angry white men. The same ones who fell for the lies that cats and dogs were being eaten by Black people, and fell for the economic travesty of tariffs as an economic solution for their financial woes.

The problem isn’t just the contemptible content of these talking points—it’s their absolute irrelevance. At a moment when the country needed clarity on a president pardoning a convicted drug kingpin, Schmitt offered nothing but distraction and division. But then that is all that MAGA has to offer the nation.

This performance exemplifies what’s broken in American politics. Citizens are weary of politicians who treat national television like a campaign rally instead of a forum for accountability. Schmitt’s evasions and blatant juvenile attacks highlight a deeper rot that harms our democracy. Leaders, and those who pretend they are such, prove to be more invested in partisan theater than in truth, governance, or responsibility.

When a senator cannot muster even basic knowledge about a headline-making pardon or the courage to speak candidly, yet has endless energy for a culture-war grievance and the attacks on an aging American, it signals to this columnist that contempt for the public’s intelligence is on at full speed. Americans deserve representatives who prepare for national interviews, who answer hard questions deserving an answer, and who prioritize the nation’s well-being over cheap applause lines. Americans deserve no less.

Eric Schmitt’s appearance should be remembered not for what he said, but for what he refused to say. His dodges and deflections underscore a dangerous trend in the MAGA world where feckless politicians thrive on outrage but collapse under scrutiny. Stephanopoulos repeatedly asked the senator to answer about the pardon. But Schmitt knew who held a family jewel.

What Schmitt offered the nation was juvenile, absurd, and unworthy of serious public service. I know from watching over 40 years of politicians interviewed on Sunday morning talk shows.