189: Senator Kevin Cramer on Trump, the riots, and a new Congress

"Trump is the best President of my lifetime," Senator Kevin Cramer told me on this episode of Plain Talk.

It's a statement he's made publicly many times, even after the ugly events in Washington D.C. on January 6.

But Cramer is also critical of President Donald Trump. He has accused Trump of inciting the crowd before the riot, he criticized the president for his conduct during and after the riot, and he said Trump's recent address, finally conceding the election and calling for peace, was tardy.

When asked if Donald Trump, after the riot at the capitol, is an effective messenger for Republicans and his movement Cramer said, "I doubt that he is, quite honestly."

Should President Trump be impeached and removed from office? That's "exactly the sort of activity that is not conducive to healing this nation," he said.

He also believes that Trump does not meet the requirements for removal by his cabinet under the 25th amendment.

The text of that amendment states that the President can be removed from office when the Vice President and a majority of cabinet members feel that he or she is "unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office.

What really seems to be frustrating Cramer is that the events at the end of Trump's term in office are going to overshadow the accomplishments on tax policy, energy and agriculture regulation, and foreign policy that he's proud to have helped the President enact.

"As Republicans distance themselves from Donald Trump the person we have to hold onto his ideas," Cramer said.