Donald Trump’s own handlers admit he’s a “complete and utter disaster”
Donald Trump’s online Twitter rants are an embarrassment for pretty much everyone involved. To his detractors, it’s more proof he’s unfit to govern. Even many of his supporters are quick to say they wish he didn’t tweet so often, and now we know his staff is wishing the same thing – particularly when it comes to the Mueller report. Now, they’re leaking their feelings to the press. According to one campaign official who spoke to Politico, when it comes to Donald Trump being a sore winner over the probe, it’s “a complete and utter disaster.”
Rather than talk about healthcare reform, or practical solutions for any issue the United States is facing, Donald Trump has decided to gloat hourly about his “total exoneration,” unwittingly making sure that the Russia probe stays ripe for ratings as a news story. He spent all of Easter weekend trying to cover his tracks.
A number of comparisons are being made between the Mueller report and the Starr report, but one reason the Starr report wasn’t so devastating for President Bill Clinton was because Clinton was eager to move on from the findings and work on policy again. Clinton also had a staff that was largely united behind him during the impeachment hearings. But over the last few years, it’s hard to argue the same is true of Donald Trump’s staff, with the revelation that Don McGahn, among others, flipped on him when interviewed by Robert Mueller. The longer this stays in the news, the higher likelihood of Donald Trump turning on a number of his own staff – as what they said to Mueller comes to light.
In Donald Trump’s mind, the media and his presidency are nearly inseparable. He’s furious that news networks won’t announce that he’s been exonerated. Perhaps in his mind they’re to blame for the lack of improvement in his approval ratings. After all, Trump has spent the last decade in a career entirely driven by ratings – and one thing he can understand are ratings that are not in his favor. As per a new ABC news poll, 58% of Americans think Donald Trump lied about the investigation and 47% think he obstructed justice. As long as Russia stays in the news cycle, those numbers aren’t likely to improve for him.
James Sullivan is the assistant editor of Brain World Magazine and an advocate of science-based policy making