Donald Trump’s former pick for U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia brushed off a shocking incident in which he was spit on during a live TV interview last week.
Ed Martin told former Fox News host Tucker Carlson that he was thankful for his choice of attire that day.
“I’d like to point out that I’ve been accused of having a signature piece of clothing now… the sort of raincoat,” he said. “The New York Times called it my ‘signature.’ Well, it was very effective because the spit went on the raincoat and was able to be cleaned off.”
Carlson called his look “old-school Watergate,” while Martin himself compared it to the namesake homicide detective in the television series Columbo.
Martin was being interviewed last Thursday, just hours after Donald Trump had announced that he was withdrawing the conservative activist’s nomination.
His path to a confirmation had been imperiled when Republican Sen. Thom Tillis voiced his opposition, thanks in part to Martin’s support for Trump’s election lies and his involvement in the “Stop the Steal” movement which sought to overturn the 2020 election.
He also defended a number of Jan. 6 capitol rioters in court.
“I have no tolerance for anyone who entered the building on Jan. 6, and that’s probably where most of the friction was,” Tillis told reporters before Trump pulled the nomination.
Martin also drew criticism for praising a Nazi sympathizer during a Trump fundraiser last summer. (He later claimed he hadn’t known about the person’s views.)
Additionally, it was revealed that Martin had failed to disclose to lawmakers his more than 150 appearances on Russian state media.
Rather than continue on as interim U.S. attorney in the nation’s capital, Martin will be director of the Weaponization Working Group at the Justice Department, Trump announced.
In his shoes now is former Fox News host Jeanine Pirro.
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