美国国家公共电台 NPR After Trump's Helsinki Comments, Ohio County GOP Chairman Resigns With 'No Regrets'

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SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

President Trump¹ met with Vladimir Putin in Helsinki on Monday. That very same day, Chris Gagin, the Republican Party chairman for Belmont County, Ohio, resigned his post. He tweeted (reading) the president is entitled to GOP party leaders, at all levels, fully² committed to his views and agenda. Following today's press conference, I could no longer fulfill³ that duty. Thus, I resigned.

Chris Gagin joins us now. Mr. Gagin, thanks so much for being with us.

CHRIS GAGIN: Thanks so much for having me.

SIMON: What was it about the press conference and any or everything else that made you decide to step down?

GAGIN: I happened to be watching the press conference live on Monday. And I just could not fathom⁴ as a citizen of the United States that the president of the United States, whose sworn duty is to protect the interests and security of the United States, was willfully choosing to believe Vladimir Putin over the consensus⁵ view of the intelligence community. And I felt, at that point - I've described it as something snapped. And I simply could not any longer be the face, if you will, of President Trump here in Belmont County. And I thought my duty, as my conscience told me, was that I needed to resign. And that's what I did.

SIMON: And when the president said a day later, you know, I got would and wouldn't confused, that didn't convince you?

GAGIN: No. I'm a lawyer. We have something in court called prior inconsistent statements that we would use to impeach⁶ a witness. And, quite frankly⁷, the distinction between would and wouldn't ignores the entire context in which that press conference in Helsinki transpired⁸. So I'm afraid I do not find that as a credible⁹ walk-back.

SIMON: I have to ask, Mr. Gagin - Belmont County's home to Murray Energy, the largest privately¹⁰ held coal company in the country. Hasn't President Trump's administration been good for companies like Murray Energy in Belmont County?

GAGIN: Truthfully, there's no question. They have rolled back a great number of Obama-era environmental regulations that have benefited the coal companies. And, you know, from that standpoint, it is interesting. The base here is kind of the well, what about us crowd? You know, who's going to take care of us? And, in that regard, you have to give the president his due. He's doing what he said he would do. And that's in contrast - locally, at least - with - we recall in - going all the way back to '92, that Bill Clinton and Al Gore¹¹ came through the northern panhandle of West Virginia, which we're basically just across the river from - coming out of their convention in Philadelphia promising¹² to stand up for steel. And then, basically, nothing was done.

So when the sociologists or the political scientists look as to why eastern Ohio has turned from solid blue to, in effect, solid red - or at least trending that way - it's largely because of those sort of promises not kept by Democratic leaders and the fact that the president, whether you agree with him or not, is following through on those promises to at least keep those blue-collar folks that I used to lead - keep them foremost in his mind.

SIMON: Would you vote for president Trump in 2020?

GAGIN: Well, as the president likes to say so much, we'll see. I have some policy differences personally, you know, with the president. I would consider myself more of a mainstream¹³ conservative in terms of ideology¹⁴, so I'm not a big fan of these tariffs¹⁵ and trade wars, if you will. And I have very deep concerns about the way, you know, the president has conducted much of his administration. You know, I think it's an interesting question from this regard. If the president starts to lose individuals like me as a sort of a establishment sort of - or just a mainstream conservative, and if he starts to lose independents of a conservative bent¹⁶, he's going to have a real hard time holding office in 2020.

SIMON: Chris Gagin, former chairman of the Belmont County, Ohio, Republican Party, attorney in private practice now, thanks so much for being with us.

GAGIN: Thank you for having me.