On October 22, U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Bill Taylor gave damning testimony to Congress detailing President Donald Trump’s efforts to withhold military aid unless Ukraine announced investigations into Trump’s political rivals. Now, right-wing media are continuing to defend Trump by working to discredit Taylor.

Tuesday’s closed-door testimony contradicted Trump’s insistence that he never pressured Ukraine in a corrupt quid pro quo. Taylor also detailed a “highly irregular” diplomatic channel to Ukraine led by Trump personal attorney Rudy Giuliani that undermined Taylor’s expertise and authority. In his 15-page opening statement, Taylor made clear that he was deeply concerned by Trump’s efforts to demand Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky “go to a microphone and say he is opening investigations of [Democratic presidential candidate Joe] Biden and 2016 election interference.”

Right-wing media figures are defending Trump’s actions, insisting that the quid pro quo and his use of a second channel to conduct shadow diplomacy is typical of U.S. foreign policy despite Taylor’s testimony that it is not normal. Some are also working to smear and discredit Taylor, despite his decades of public service and military experience.

Fox & Friends co-host Brian Kilmeade said that “you have to suspend disbelief” to believe that Trump denied aid to Ukraine based on Taylor’s testimony. Co-host Ainsley Earhardt said, “It sounds like Bill Taylor didn’t like the Rudy Giuliani track. He was disappointed with the way the president was handling things and Rudy Giuliani was handling things. It doesn’t mean that there was quid pro quo.”