Democrats are reportedly 'gobsmacked' the White House released such a damning transcript

Ukraine Transcript.
(Image credit: Andrew Cabellero-Reynolds/Getty Images)

After President Trump promised the transcript of his call with Ukraine's president would show they had a "totally appropriate" conversation, Democrats were stunned to read it for themselves.

The transcript released Wednesday by the White House, which is not a verbatim account of the conversation, shows that Trump pushed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden, urging him to do so with Attorney General William Barr.

Politico's Jake Sherman offered a quick read of how Democrats are reacting, writing that they're "absolutely gobsmacked" the White House actually put it out at all.

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Among those sharing that reaction was Jon Favreau, speechwriter for former President Obama, who wrote that the memorandum is "actually much worse for Trump than I thought," also responding to Sherman's tweet by writing, "My mouth has been hanging open for the last five minutes."

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Brendan Morrow

Brendan worked as a culture writer at The Week from 2018 to 2023, covering the entertainment industry, including film reviews, television recaps, awards season, the box office, major movie franchises and Hollywood gossip. He has written about film and television for outlets including Bloody Disgusting, Showbiz Cheat Sheet, Heavy and The Celebrity Cafe.