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

 

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.

1 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

2 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

3 fulfill   

vt.履行，实现，完成；满足，使满意

参考例句：

• If you make a promise you should fulfill it.如果你许诺了，你就要履行你的诺言。
• This company should be able to fulfill our requirements.这家公司应该能够满足我们的要求。

4 fathom   

v.领悟，彻底了解

参考例句：

• I really couldn't fathom what he was talking about.我真搞不懂他在说些什么。
• What these people hoped to achieve is hard to fathom.这些人希望实现些什么目标难以揣测。

5 consensus   

n.(意见等的)一致，一致同意，共识

参考例句：

• Can we reach a consensus on this issue?我们能在这个问题上取得一致意见吗？
• What is the consensus of opinion at the afternoon meeting?下午会议上一致的意见是什么？

6 impeach   

v.弹劾；检举

参考例句：

• We must impeach the judge for taking bribes.我们一定要检举法官收受贿赂。
• The committee decided to impeach the President.委员会决定弹劾总统。

7 frankly   

adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说

参考例句：

• To speak frankly, I don't like the idea at all.老实说，我一点也不赞成这个主意。
• Frankly speaking, I'm not opposed to reform.坦率地说，我不反对改革。

8 transpired   

（事实，秘密等）被人知道( transpire的过去式和过去分词 )； 泄露； 显露； 发生

参考例句：

• It transpired that the gang had had a contact inside the bank. 据报这伙歹徒在银行里有内应。
• It later transpired that he hadn't been telling the truth. 他当时没说真话，这在后来显露出来了。

9 credible   

adj.可信任的，可靠的

参考例句：

• The news report is hardly credible.这则新闻报道令人难以置信。
• Is there a credible alternative to the nuclear deterrent?是否有可以取代核威慑力量的可靠办法？

10 privately   

adv.以私人的身份，悄悄地，私下地

参考例句：

• Some ministers admit privately that unemployment could continue to rise.一些部长私下承认失业率可能继续升高。
• The man privately admits that his motive is profits.那人私下承认他的动机是为了牟利。

11 gore   

n.凝血，血污；v.（动物）用角撞伤，用牙刺破；缝以补裆；顶

参考例句：

• The fox lay dying in a pool of gore.狐狸倒在血泊中奄奄一息。
• Carruthers had been gored by a rhinoceros.卡拉瑟斯被犀牛顶伤了。

12 promising   

adj.有希望的，有前途的

参考例句：

• The results of the experiments are very promising.实验的结果充满了希望。
• We're trying to bring along one or two promising young swimmers.我们正设法培养出一两名有前途的年轻游泳选手。

13 mainstream   

n.（思想或行为的）主流；adj.主流的

参考例句：

• Their views lie outside the mainstream of current medical opinion.他们的观点不属于当今医学界观点的主流。
• Polls are still largely reflects the mainstream sentiment.民调还在很大程度上反映了社会主流情绪。

14 ideology   

n.意识形态，(政治或社会的)思想意识

参考例句：

• The ideology has great influence in the world.这种思想体系在世界上有很大的影响。
• The ideal is to strike a medium between ideology and inspiration.我的理想是在意识思想和灵感鼓动之间找到一个折衷。

15 tariffs   

关税制度； 关税( tariff的名词复数 )； 关税表； （旅馆或饭店等的）收费表； 量刑标准

参考例句：

• British industry was sheltered from foreign competition by protective tariffs. 保护性关税使英国工业免受国际竞争影响。
• The new tariffs have put a stranglehold on trade. 新的关税制对开展贸易极为不利。

16 bent   

n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的

参考例句：

• He was fully bent upon the project.他一心扑在这项计划上。
• We bent over backward to help them.我们尽了最大努力帮助他们。