EMPORIA, KANSAS, USA, October 6, 2020 Congressman Dr. Roger Marshall Republican senatorial candidate talks with supporters today at the Lyon County fairgrounds with the “Keep Kansas Great Bus Tour” (Shutterstock Asset id_1829211071)
President Donald Trump's vendetta against Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell escalated on Friday when the outgoing leader of the central bank was handed a Justice Department subpoena.
Trump's Justice Department claims that Powell lied under oath to Congress when he testified about the Federal Reserve's renovations of two historic buildings.
Kansas Republican Sen. Roger Marshall told Fox Business News that there were more important things to do than to worry about Trump trolling people.
Other Republicans appeared to take it more seriously.
Maria Bartiromo asked Marshall if Powell broke the law.
"Well, Maria, I think we'll let the system play through here," Marshall began. "I think there's other issues that we should be focused on. I think this is the president throwing out one more, uh, maybe he's even trolling here, as well. We got bigger issues to go after than this one though."
Marshall's tepid dismissal of Trump's attack on the independent Federal Reserve drew consternation from some.
KansasCity.com opinion columnist Joel Mathis wrote on BlueSky, "If Roger Marshall can’t stand up for Trump on this one, you know that it’s total bulls——. That endangers the American economy. But get the heck out of here with trolling. You don’t use the Department of Justice to troll. What a stupid, stupid comment."
CNN reporter Edward-Isaac Dovere commented, "Where we’re at: the Justice Department pursuing charges against a government official is 'the president almost trolling.'"
"On Democracy" podcast host Fred Wellman responded to Marshall's claims by saying, "Hahah. He’s just trolling with a Constitutional crisis. Trump is hilarious. What a prankster that guy is. The Republican Doormat Congress manages to find a new way to humiliate themselves daily."
Fiscal conservative Brad Polumbo was bothered by it too. He wrote on X, "'Just trolling' with the fate of the global economy is a wild defense."
Vanity Fair's Aidan McLaughlin said, "Criminal investigations are trolling now."
"Do these people want careers after Trump's term or what?" asked Tahra Hoops, director of economic analysis at the Chamber of Progress.
Professor Mark D. White noted he was "waiting for someone to say 'libs can't take a joke' about this."
New York media director Greg Krieg questioned, "When they shot Renee Good in the head, was that a cheeky troll too?"
CNN reporter Aaron Blake commented, "When even Roger Marshall chooses to downplay rather than defend..."