Blumenthal: I don’t know why Trump is obsessed with me

Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) said Tuesday that he doesn’t know what prompted President Trump’s Twitter barrage against him, but he says that the president is trying to distract from the special counsel investigation into possible collusion between his campaign and Russia.

“Our national security and the rule of law is at serious risk,” Blumenthal said on MSNBC. “It is not about me. I can’t explain the president’s obsession with me or any of the other targets of his tweets.”

Blumenthal was questioned by the hosts of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” about whether the series of tweets was actually the result of decades-old bad blood between Blumenthal’s family and Trump. Blumenthal denied this and said he has “no idea” what’s in the president’s head.

“It’s really not about me,” Blumenthal told MSNBC. “I have no idea what’s in the president’s head, but I can tell you I’m determined not to be distracted.”

He added that Trump’s Twitter attacks are “designed” to distract Americans from real issues.

“I think they are designed to distract, these bullying tweets,” Blumenthal added. “They only reinforce my determination to protect the special counsel, because [Trump] has used the same tactics in seeking to bully and intimidate special counsel Bob Mueller, by drawing red lines, implying conflicts of interest.”

{mosads}Blumenthal touted his bipartisan legislation that would prevent Trump from firing Mueller, calling it necessary to protect the special counsel from the White House. The bill would require a judge to approve a Justice Department request to fire Mueller or any other special counsel.

On Monday, Trump blasted Blumenthal after the senator appeared on CNN, accusing the Connecticut Democrat of deceiving voters and lying about his service in Vietnam.

“I think Senator Blumenthal should take a nice long vacation in Vietnam, where he lied about his service, so he can at least say he was there,” Trump tweeted Monday.

The president’s tweet came after Blumenthal told CNN the same day that he was “concerned” the Department of Justice is “weaponizing” laws after it announced a crackdown on leaks.

“Mr. President: Your bullying hasn’t worked before and it won’t work now. No one is above the law,” Blumenthal said Monday.