Politics - News Analysis

Trump is Furious With Everyone Around Him, Including Kayleigh McEnany, for Not Defending Him

Donald Trump may be the loneliest man in America.

It is true that the last week of any outgoing presidency will feel lonely absent unbelievably tense issues happening at home or abroad. The extremely tense issues ending this presidency are all humiliating and dangerous stuff that Trump brought upon himself. It is bad enough that nearly everyone who once worked for the White House was either fired long ago, quit after the November loss, sought other work, or quit after last Wednesday. But now the people who remain are laying low, hoping to avoid all contact with the man they know to be radioactive.

That pisses Trump off. He wants loyalty! He wants his people out in front of cameras defending him from the indefensible! According to the Washington Post:

As he watched impeachment quickly gain steam, Trump was upset generally that virtually nobody is defending him โ€” including press secretary Kayleigh McEnany, senior adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner, economic adviser Larry Kudlow, national security adviser Robert C. Oโ€™Brien and Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, according to a senior administration official.

โ€œThe president is pretty wound up,โ€ said the senior administration official, who, like some others interviewed, spoke on the condition of anonymity to be candid. โ€œNo one is out there.โ€ …

… … This is both because there was no organized campaign to block impeachment and because many of his aides believe Trumpโ€™s incitement of the riot was too odious to defend. White House Counsel Pat Cipollone, who was central to the presidentโ€™s defense in his first impeachment a year ago, told other staffers to make sure word got out that he was not involved in defending Trump this time, according to one aide.

Out where? Where does one go to make an argument that yelling at crowds to go to the Capitol and “fight harder,” leading to mob violence and an attack on Mike Pence and Nancy Pelosi, an attack that Trump refused to help abate? Where is that argument to be made? CNN?

It appears that’s exactly what Trump expects and it sounds like Trump expects it to work.

Trump is also livid with Mitch McConnell. The anger goes back to December 15th but it really really picked up steam after McConnell left open the possibility for an impeachment conviction:

Although he has shown flashes of anger over his impeachment โ€” and is livid with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) for leaving open the possibility that he might vote to convict โ€” Trump privately has told advisers that he does not believe he will be removed from office before his term expires Jan. 20, according to people familiar with the conversations.

Yay! Trump victory!

No, there have been no Trump victories, indeed he managed to look worse and worse as the “stop the steal” stuff went along. Trump is particularly upset with Rudy Giuliani who did Trump absolutely no good and may have hurt the cause:

Trump has instructed aides not to pay Giulianiโ€™s legal fees, two officials said, and has demanded that he personally approve any reimbursements for the expenses Giuliani incurred while traveling on the presidentโ€™s behalf to challenge election results in key states. They said Trump has privately expressed concern with some of Giulianiโ€™s moves and did not appreciate a demand from Giuliani for $20,000 a day in fees for his work attempting to overturn the election.

We hope Rudy got a retainer upfront.

Trump appears to be one lonely man but that is what happens when you burn every bridge you’ve ever crossed, skewered everyone “loyal” with some kind of disloyalty, and brought shame upon everyone who ever worked with you. They all wear the scarlet “T” now.

Poor man. And we mean that. He is sure to be a poor man here soon enough.

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Peace, y’all
Jason
jmiciak@yahoo.com and on Twitter @JasonMiciak

meet the author

Jason Miciak is a political writer, features writer, author, and attorney. He is originally from Canada but grew up in the Pacific Northwest. He now enjoys life as a single dad raising a ridiculously-loved young girl on the beaches of the Gulf Coast. He is very much the dreamy mystic, a day without learning is a day not lived. He is passionate about his flower pots and studies philosophical science, religion, and non-mathematical principles of theoretical physics. Dogs, pizza, and love are proof that God exists. "Above all else, love one another."

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