Trump Announces Coats Resignation, Ratcliffe Nomination
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We ran the numbers: There are 1840 news articles covering this topic. 40% (737) are left leaning, 50% (919) center, 10% (184) right leaning.
On Sunday, President Donald Trump announced the resignation of Dan Coats, Director of National Intelligence, and subsequently mentioned that he is choosing Representative John Ratcliffe to serve as the new director. Coats, a former senator from Indiana, was frequently noted as not seeing eye-to-eye with Trump on intelligence matters involving Russia and North Korea.
John Ratcliffe is a Texas representative, serving one of the most conservative districts in the country. Rep. Ratcliffe also sits on the House Judiciary and Intelligence committees, which led to his noteworthy interactions with Special Counsel Robert Mueller during last week’s testimony. Ratcliffe has been dubbed one of Trump’s “staunch defenders” and one of the biggest critics of anti-Trump bias throughout the special counsel’s investigations. Once officially nominated, Ratcliffe will be considered in both the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and the Senate.
A left-leaning Washington Post article discusses Ratcliffe’s backing of the President during Mueller’s testimony, while also noting Democrat accusations of Ratcliffe being picked due to his efforts to please Trump. “It’s clear that Rep. Ratcliffe was selected because he exhibited blind loyalty to President Trump with his demagogic questioning of former special counsel Robert S. Mueller III,” Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (NY) said in a statement.
Coverage in a centrist NPR article also raises concerns regarding Ratcliffe’s loyalty and partiality to the President. However, it also focuses on Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and the Senate Intelligence Committee’s silence regarding Ratcliffe’s nomination– emphasizing “what McConnell called the need for a president to get candid advice.”
In contrast, the right-leaning Washington Examiner article reports Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr’s conveyed congratulations to Ratcliffe, following Trump’s announcement on Sunday. The article also mentions Senate Republican’s plans to move quickly through Ratcliffe’s nomination. “When the White House submits its official nomination to the Senate Intelligence Committee, we will work to move it swiftly through regular order.”.
From the left
New spy chief pick Ratcliffe made his name during the Trump inquiries by backing the president
Washington Post
From the right
Top Senate Republican: Committee will 'swiftly' consider Ratcliffe nomination
Washington Examiner