House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, Republican, pretends not to understand what corruption is, what conflicts of interest are, what the emoluments clause means.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy on Tuesday defended military expenditures at President Donald Trump’s properties, arguing that hotels owned by the president are “just like any other hotel.”

“The president’s resorts are hotels that he owns. People are traveling. It’s just like any other hotel. I know people will look at it, I don’t know if that’s different than anything else,” he said at a press conference.

No, it’s not just like any other hotel, because the president can use his office to promote his hotel, and that’s just what we don’t want. That right there is the very thing we do not want, because it’s a conflict of interest, aka corrupt. “People will look at it” because it’s corrupt and shady and self-dealing, and people in government are not supposed to do that.

Ethics officials and lawmakers have raised concerns about foreign officials staying at Trump hotels, noting that Trump supporters and industry groups regularly hold events at Trump-owned locations. An analysis conducted by The Washington Post earlier this summer found that Trump’s properties had brought in $1.6 million in revenue from federal officials and Republicans who paid to be near the president.

McCarthy asserted Tuesday that shouldn’t be looked down upon either. “Is it different than if I go to eat or stay at a Marriott here or eat at the Trump?” he asked, adding: “The president isn’t asking me to, he’s competing in a private enterprise. It’s nothing he controls in that process, so if it’s in the process, they can stay there, yes.”

That’s not the rule. That’s never been the rule. The House minority leader is just brazenly lying to us.

If you want to watch and hear McCarthy say it, it’s in this tweet.