Roger Stone, a political provocateur and close advisor to President Donald Trump, offered a cutting assessment of national Republican politics while talking to two local groups this week.
At a $25 per person private fundraiser for the Pima County Republican Party, Stone told about 100 people at the Mountain Oyster Club that Sen. John McCain needs to leave the Senate, Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Trump’s chief of staff Reince Priebus should both resign, and former President George W. Bush did not keep Americans safe.
Stone, a political consultant, said the enemy of the GOP is not liberals or Democrats — it is Republicans who are loyal to the national party establishment rather than to Trump.
Stone focused his ire on McCain saying while he hopes the 80-year-old senator recovers from brain cancer, he cannot forgive the former prisoner of war for giving a dossier containing sensitive information on Trump to the FBI.
"I am tired of his red faced antics," Stone said, adding McCain is simply no longer fit to be in the Senate. "His attacks against the president make me sick."
He added that McCain’s actions were treasonous and played into the the false narrative he says was invented by the Democrats — playfully calling it the "Russian collision-delusion.”
Stone told the audience the entire investigation will allow Democrats to cook up phony indictments for perjury as an excuse for impeachment of Trump.
After McCain, Stone went after Sessions.
"It is time for Jeff Sessions to go," Stone said.
At least part of his criticism stems from Sessions recusing himself from Russia investigation.
With Sessions having stepped aside, Stone says it set in motion a plan to allow Department of Justice officials to move forward with an investigation.
“Why?” he asked. “We don’t have evidence of a crime.”
Stone has been asked to testify for what he knows about the Trump campaign’s dealings with Russia but says he will only proceed if he can make his statements publicly. He says he doesn’t trust Democrats in Congress to be honest if he testified privately.
He believes there is a “new McCarthyism” in Washington and that if you are not angling for war with Russia that you are a traitor.
As for Priebus, Stone said the former Republican National Committee chairman has failed to serve the President — telling the audience that he hopes his eventual replacement will be loyal to Trump.
Stone then turned his attention to criticizing the mainstream media, saying the major networks can’t be trusted — encouraging the audience to use specific websites and frequently mentioning the Alex Jones’ Infowars website as a source of conservative news.
Stone, who spoke later before an audience in Green Valley, is the first of a series of planned speakers for the Pima County Republican Party designed to help raise funds.
