On Friday’s broadcast of MSNBC’s special coverage of the House Intelligence Committees public impeachment inquiry hearings, former Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO), now a contributor for NBC News, commented on President Donald Trump’s tweet about former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch during her testimony.

Everywhere Marie Yovanovitch went turned bad. She started off in Somalia, how did that go? Then fast forward to Ukraine, where the new Ukrainian President spoke unfavorably about her in my second phone call with him. It is a U.S. President’s absolute right to appoint ambassadors. — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 15, 2019

McCaskill said, “So here’s the deal, Rudy Giuliani and Trump cooked up this plan to find a way to go after Biden. Giuliani had all these contacts on the dark side, all around the globe, including some of the ones that are currently being prosecuted in this country, those two nuts from down in Florida, and then this bad guy in the Ukraine. So they had to gin up some dirt on Biden coming from Ukraine, and Rudy had friends that could help him do that. Corrupt friends, bad guys. So who was in the way? I am so proud of this woman. She was the most senior, highest-ranking woman diplomat in the State Department. Now, saying that is something because the State Department historically over the last 30 years has not exactly been where you go to find all the powerful women in Washington. Usually, it was a lot of men, a lot of white men. And the fact that she has served and she was in the way, this is who they had to get rid of to complete their scam, they had to get rid of this woman.”

She continued, “So they set about to do it with an assist from Sean Hannity, and ridiculous pretend journalism outlets. They went after her. And the president now, not staying in the shadows for this bad act, but rather he’s out there today with his fat thumbs tweeting to trying to intimidate her real-time. I’m so proud of her, and every woman in America who has fought in a male-dominated career should cheer for this woman today. Her guts, her accomplishments, and the fact that she’s the one that stood in their way.”

She added, “I can get choked up when I think about what this woman has given. If you really walk in her shoes, the countries she’s gone to, the loneliness that comes from postings like this in the State Department, her accomplishments, the respect she gained over decades and decades of service, and to have these jerks malign the office of the presidency and play this kind of game for political purposes, it should infuriate every American.”

Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN