Donald Trump really does think this is a reality show
Does Donald Trump know that this is not in fact the Apprentice? Does he understand that he is – for the next couple months at least – occupying the office of President of the United States? This is the guy who is so far removed from reality, his boasting got him laughed at by the entire world at the UN yesterday, so anything’s possible. Now his delusional reality show of an administration has found a whole new way to get even more idiotic.
Just two days ago we were subjected to one of the stupidest days yet in Donald Trump’s illegitimate presidency, when Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein resigned, then did not resign, then was fired, then was not fired, then was scheduled to meet with Trump on Thursday to discuss whether or not he was fired. The whole thing was obviously manufactured to distract from Dr. Christine Blasey Ford’s scheduled testimony against Brett Kavanaugh on Thursday.
Now the media would have to spend half its time on Thursday showing a car pulling up to the White House, while speculating emptily about whether Rod Rosenstein might get fired, which would mean less camera time devoted to Ford’s testimony. As sociopathic plans go, it’s not actually a bad strategy. The thing is, Trump just blew it. As of last night, people on Team Trump are telling the Washington Post that Rosenstein’s job is probably safe until after the midterms – which, as we’ve learned, is code for never getting fired.
So why is Donald Trump having his own people tell the media that he probably won’t fire Rod Rosenstein on Thursday after all? He seems to believe that this might help push the Rosenstein controversy back into the headlines today, at the expense of the Kavanaugh scandal. But in reality he just signaled to the media that his carefully concocted Rosenstein meeting stunt on Thursday will probably be a non-event. This means that CNN and MSNBC will spend at least ten percent less time focusing on it, now that they know it’s not going to be a real story.
This all just keeps getting stranger. Now comes word that the far-right House GOP is once again gearing up to try to impeach Rod Rosenstein. As a reminder, there is literally a 0.0% chance that Rosenstein will be removed via impeachment; it would require at least sixteen Democrats to vote for removal. But the fact that they’re once again trying this nonsense is a hint that maybe they’re the ones who keep leaking these fake stories about Rosenstein. For whatever reason, the far-right House GOP thinks its life depends on ousting Rosenstein, even as Trump keeps tepidly showing us that he thinks it’s not worth the risk. This just keeps getting stupider.
