Washington Post reporter calls out Claire McCaskill for knocking lawmakers who dodge press

A Washington Post reporter called out former Sen. Claire McCaskill over her attempt to knock lawmakers who choose to avoid questions from the press on Capitol Hill.

McCaskill has been repeatedly mocking her former GOP colleagues in the Senate who have either avoided reporters or have denied having any knowledge of President Trump's conspiratorial tweet suggesting that the 75-year-old protester Martin Gugino, who was pushed to the ground by Buffalo police officers, was actually an "Antifa provocateur."

First, she called out Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., for saying he "didn't see" the president's Monday-morning tweet.

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"The entire US Senate knew about this tweet almost immediately. That’s how the Senate works," McCaskill insisted. "His communications director advised him of the tweet and there was a discussion about how to handle it. Unless his staff is completely incompetent. But pretty sure he’s just lying."

The former Missouri Democratic lawmaker-turned MSNBC analyst leveled similar claims against Sens. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., and John Cornyn, R-Texas, who also denied having much knowledge of Trump's inflammatory post.

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"So silly. Everyone knows what they are doing. No one believes they didn’t see it. No one," McCaskill wrote.

On Tuesday, McCaskill appeared to give reporters some advice about where lawmakers tend to gather on Capitol Hill, an area that apparently is barred from the press.

"Nothing in the Senate is busier right now than the back hallways and staircases that can be used to avoid press in the Capitol. There are a bunch of them ... many off limits to reporters," McCaskill said.

That tweet, however, got a fiery response from Washington Post White House reporter Seung Min Kim.

"And I am old enough to remember how you were somehow always on your phone around reporters when you were in cycle," Kim wrote. "Avoiding the press is a bipartisan pastime on Capitol Hill."

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McCaskill pushed back against Kim's claim, replying, "my big mouth was usually pretty available and got me in regular trouble," while appearing to agree that "avoiding the press is a bipartisan pastime."

In 2018, McCaskill was defeated in her Senate race by Republican Josh Hawley.

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