FOCUS: Tom Nichols | Trump Seems to Be Afraid, Very Afraid

 

 

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FOCUS: Tom Nichols | Trump Seems to Be Afraid, Very Afraid
Tom Nichols, The Atlantic
Nichols writes: "Donald Trump is scared. Or so he seems, at least to judge from the interview he did with the Fox News anchor Bret Baier that aired over the past two evenings." 

That was the big revelation of his interview with Fox’s Bret Baier.

Donald Trump is scared.

Or so he seems, at least to judge from the interview he did with the Fox News anchor Bret Baier that aired over the past two evenings. Trump was jittery and combative, but that’s not so unusual; the former president tends to answer even softball questions as if they’re accusations. Typically, when confronted with more serious challenges, he deploys his peculiar political glossolalia, verbal fusillades formed out of names and places and phrases plucked from jumbled memories, old talking points, and barely remembered briefings.

But something was different this time. Trump seemed not himself—or at least not the character he’s been presenting to the public for most of his life.

Instead, he seemed deeply uneasy in an environment where he should have felt at home. The hosts of Fox News have been, for the most part, staunch supporters of the 45th president, repeating Trump’s many grievances and echoing his lies about how the 2020 election was rigged and stolen. Fox, after all, is the network that proved its commitment to Trump by shelling out $787.5 million as the price of supporting his fantasies about voting machines. And yet, by the end of the interview, Trump was calling Fox a “hostile” network.

Through it all, Trump seemed genuinely off-balance. (Even some of the Fox analysts noticed it; the longtime Fox anchor and Trump defender Brit Hume, for one, said that Trump’s answers about his legal dilemmas “verged on incoherent.”) This was not the same Trump who took instant charge of CNN’s town-hall interview, in which he owned a New Hampshire stage and bulldozed the CNN anchor Kaitlan Collins out of his way while playing to a hooting and applauding crowd.

Read: Inside the meltdown at CNN

What happened to that more confident Trump? And why did he—or anyone on his staff—think it would be a good idea to sit in a quiet room, alone with an experienced reporter?

If Trump thought the interview was a chance to work the refs on his court case and soften up public opinion, he chose the wrong venue. Trump relies on the energy he gets from proximity to his supporters. For a man who has spent so many years on television, Trump seems uncomfortable in a studio unless an audience is present. His natural habitat is not the tranquil interview salon but the packed house, the rally, the press conference, where he can line up his opponents—liberals, other Republican candidates, his former staff, reporters—like ducks in a rhetorical shooting gallery, each hollow metallic ding of a hit producing a roar of applause.

Trump’s discomfort had a lot to do with Baier. One-on-one interviews are hard for Trump, because they require him to focus on individual human beings and engage with them as if he cares about—or even heard—what they just said. He always runs the risk that the other person might continue to ask pointed questions even after he has wandered into some incomprehensible reverie. Perhaps Trump was expecting a Fox anchor to cut him a break in such an arrangement; instead, Baier came prepared, and pushed back—with data—on many of Trump’s claims. Given how extreme so many of Trump’s no-one-ever-did-anything-better-than-me statements tend to be, pushing back might not seem so difficult, but credit where it is due: Baier interrupted Trump, corrected him, and challenged him on multiple fronts, including his election lies, his indictments, his record as president, his involvement in the January 6 insurrection, and even his predilection for silly nicknames.

Baier brought quotes, sound clips, and charts. (CNN’s Collins, undermined by the structure of a live interview in front of a partisan audience, never had a chance to do anything similar.) Trump clearly hated the whole experience this time, and he retreated to his comfort zone, dismissing facts, insulting the people who once worked for him, belittling Fox’s ratings, and accusing the network of bias against him.

“I’m no great fan of Fox,” Trump complained at one point. “You’re sitting here,” Baier responded calmly. “Well, you gotta get your word out somehow, right?” Trump mumbled, with that sullen, childlike affect that is always so disconcerting to see in a man closer to 80 than to 8.

Trump’s ire, however, alternated with what the Fox analyst Juan Williams insightfully described as a kind of detachment from the whole business. When Trump went on, for example, about how he’d give the death penalty to drug dealers, Baier interrupted to note that Trump had pardoned a drug dealer named Alice Johnson, who, under his new plan, would have been executed. “Huh?” Trump responded, with evident confusion. “No, no. No. Under my, oh, under that? Uh, it would depend on the severity.” But Baier pressed on: Johnson had run a major cocaine ring. Trump groped around until he conjured up an assertion that if his notional death penalty for drug dealers had existed, Johnson would never have dealt drugs. Problem solved.

And so it went, with every answer either a retreat into magical thinking or chaff bursts of jarring non sequiturs. Was Vladimir Putin wrong to invade Ukraine? If Trump had been president, Putin would never have done it. How would a Trump administration have handled the Chinese spy balloon? If Trump had been president, China would never have sent the balloon. Would Trump go to war over Taiwan? He’s a great dealmaker, he makes deals. What about his actions on January 6? Lawyers tell him his speech was perfect; also, Maxine Waters is bad.

Trump said all of this while showcasing the trademark tells—including nervous (and distracting) sniffling and verbal hiccups such as “Are you ready?”—that signal when he is tense and flustered. And perhaps he was more than flustered; perhaps his trip to a federal courtroom in Miami has finally induced a fear that he could face real consequences for his actions. His former chief of staff John Kelly thinks so, saying recently that he believes Trump is “scared shitless.” That would explain a lot about Trump’s defensiveness during the Fox interview.

David A. Graham: This indictment is different

And Trump may have yet more reason to worry, because the burble of sentence fragments he unloaded on Baier could land him in still deeper trouble. In a potentially important moment, Baier pressed Trump about why he hadn’t simply returned the boxes of materials as the government demanded. Trump, after his ritual invocation of the Divine Right of Presidential Box Ownership, said that he’d wanted to return them but hadn’t had enough time to go through everything, so he didn’t know what was in them. Bad move: Trump had already gotten his lawyers to certify that he did, in fact, know what was in them—or, more accurately, to certify that nothing classified or sensitive remained. As some legal analysts quickly pointed out, including a former prosecutor named Chris Christie, this all sounds a lot like obstruction of justice.

After the discussion of Trump’s indictments, an awkward pause halted the conversation for a moment. Baier took a beat, looked more closely at Trump, and asked: “So you’re not worried about this case?” Trump paused—an unnatural moment of hesitancy for a man who seems always to be speaking without the need to take a breath. He did, in fact, seem worried, which is perhaps why Baier took the opening to ask the question.

The moment passed. Trump went back on the attack. And yet, his heart wasn’t in it. He may be tired; he may be distracted. But for now, Donald Trump seems, more than anything, to be afraid.

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POLITICO Massachusetts Playbook: Healey's new housing play

 

View in browser   BY KELLY GARRITY AND LISA KASHINSKY NEW DEVELOPMENT IN HOUSING DEVELOPMENT — Gov. Maura Healey is rolling out a five-year, $14 billion capital investment plan today with a new program aimed at boosting housing production as its centerpiece. The $97 million-per-year HousingWorks program borrows its name and design from the infrastructure grant program MassWorks. But instead of funds for resurfacing roads and upgrading sewer systems, HousingWorks would provide grants specifically for housing production, preservation and rehabilitation, with the goal of creating 200 to 300 new units of affordable housing per year. “Local officials, they needed a separate fund that wasn’t competing with all the other economic development projects,” Healey’s housing secretary, Ed Augustus, told Playbook in an exclusive interview three weeks into his new gig. “Having this separate bucket of money just for housing production, I think it really helps communities,” the former Worcester city manager said. Augustus called HousingWorks just one “tool in the toolbox” for addressing the state’s housing crisis. The administration’s capital plan would also pour tens of millions of dollars a year into housing acquisition and rehabilitation, and into preserving the state’s existing public housing stock. But Augustus wouldn’t weigh in on some of the other proposals being floated to boost housing production and accessibility. Augustus declined to share his personal views on rent control. He wouldn’t talk about legislative proposals to bring back “Chapter 257” eviction protections for renters. And he stopped short of a full-throated endorsement of the Senate's push to increase funding for the Low Income Housing Tax Credit , saying non-specifically that “anything that gives us more tools to help more of these projects get off the ground is very much welcomed.” Here are more excerpts from Playbook’s chat with Augustus, edited for length and clarity: From left: Housing Secretary Ed Augustus, Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll and Gov. Maura Healey at the Massachusetts State House on June 1, 2023. | Joshua Qualls/Gov. Maura Healey's press office What is the split for the administration when it comes to focusing on affordable housing versus market-rate housing?  I’m not going to give a kind of percentage. We need more housing of all types across the spectrum. We know affordable, deeply affordable, [housing] is a critical need. In many of our communities we need to be focused on creating that type of housing. But we know in many of our Gateway Cities, they really feel like they need market-rate units. So the goal is creating more housing of all types, but we are particularly sensitive to the needs and the urgency of affordable and deeply affordable housing units. Some housing advocates in Worcester criticized the redevelopment of the Canal District you oversaw for having few new apartments for lower-income residents. Is there anything you hope to do differently in your new role in light of that?  We need to look back at 2013, 2014, when I first became city manager, and what the situation was then. We had a lot of vacant parcels, buildings that were dilapidated or empty. And we worked very diligently to try to get as many of those turned into housing of all different types. We created the Affordable Housing Trust Fund and put $15 million of ARPA funds in it, and proposed inclusionary zoning. You need to keep working with the circumstances that you're confronted with and you change as the circumstances change. Do you have any targets that you want to hit by the end of the year for boosting housing production or increasing affordable units?  I'm looking at all of the different programs that we have, the different opportunities that we have in front of us, like this capital improvement plan, like the upcoming [housing] bond bill. And [I'm] saying to the team here: What else can we be doing? How do we tweak things that exist? How do we add new things to the mix? GOOD THURSDAY MORNING, MASSACHUSETTS . Healey's capital improvement plan covers everything from reducing carbon emissions to replacing the Cape Cod bridges. Take a look. TODAY — Healey highlights her new housing program at 10:15 a.m. in Hyannis and makes several stops on Martha’s Vineyard. Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll participates in a roundtable on gender-affirming care at 10 a.m. at the State House and joins former Acting Gov. Jane Swift at the Massachusetts Commission on the Status of Women’s 25th anniversary gala at 6:30 p.m. in Randolph. Rep. Ayanna Pressley and colleagues introduce “abortion justice legislation” at 10 a.m. at the U.S. Capitol. Former Gov. Charlie Baker headlines a fundraiser for the MassGOP at 6 p.m. at the Lenox Hotel in Boston. Tips? Scoops? Email us: kgarrity@politico.com and lkashinsky@politico.com .   STEP INSIDE THE WEST WING : What's really happening in West Wing offices? Find out who's up, who's down, and who really has the president’s ear in our West Wing Playbook newsletter, the insider's guide to the Biden White House and Cabinet. For buzzy nuggets and details that you won't find anywhere else, subscribe today .     2024 WATCH — SELLING DESANTIS: Never Back Down founder Ken Cuccinelli pitched potential donors, GOP activists and state lawmakers from Massachusetts and New Hampshire during two Boston-area meetings yesterday, as the pro-Ron DeSantis super PAC works to build its $100 million field operation across the early and Super Tuesday primary states. Cuccinelli said his message to more than a dozen donors and activists assembled at the Boston Newton Marriott — with the help of former congressional candidate and auto-parts magnate Rick Green — was “very favorably received.” Beyond open checkbooks, Cuccinelli told Playbook the PAC wants to have both paid staff and volunteers in Massachusetts as it looks to capitalize on the state’s “unique” proximity to New Hampshire and its likely spot in the Super Tuesday lineup. It's an unusual move for a PAC. But Never Back Down has already taken on several tasks typically carried out by campaigns, from knocking on doors to securing endorsements for DeSantis in early nominating states including New Hampshire. DeSantis returns to the Granite State on Tuesday in a split screen with polling frontrunner former President Donald Trump , who will be in Concord to headline a New Hampshire Federation of Republican Women event. Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley also kicks off another New Hampshire swing that day. DATELINE BEACON HILL — STOPGAP: Gov. Maura Healey filed a nearly $6.7 billion interim budget to keep the state running through July as lawmakers remain locked in negotiations over the fiscal year 2024 spending plan. — DRIVING THE DAY: Business groups are pressuring Democratic legislative leaders to act on legislation that would classify app-based drivers as independent contractors, the latest move in the long-running gig-worker fight. Read the letter to House Speaker Ron Mariano and Senate President Karen Spilka . — “Sex ed gets an update in state’s new curriculum framework,” by Bruce Mohl, CommonWealth Magazine: “Abstinence is a word that appears frequently in the state’s current curriculum framework for health education, which was released nearly 25 years ago in 1999. … Gov. Maura Healey unveiled an updated health and physical education curriculum framework on Wednesday that also mentions abstinence, but with more neutral language presenting it as one of several options for pursuing ‘healthy sexual behavior.’” — "Healey created a nonprofit to bankroll her transition into office. But, the donors are secret, and so is how much they gave her," by Matt Stout, Boston Globe: "In May, it helped pay for Healey, Lieutenant Governor Kim Driscoll, and two dozen of Healey’s senior staff and Cabinet members to attend a two-day retreat at the American Academy of Arts & Sciences in Cambridge, where they could 'align on expectations' and get to know one another, according to an ethics disclosure Healey filed." — “Applying for license under new driver’s license law? AG, RMV warn of scams, fraud,” by Chris Van Buskirk, Boston Herald. — “Non-citizens and 16 year olds voting? Maybe in Massachusetts,” by Matthew Medsger, Boston Herald. FROM THE HUB — “At Shattuck Hospital, a proposal for 400-plus units of supportive housing,” by Danny McDonald and Sean Cotter, Boston Globe: “In one of the state’s most ambitious efforts to combat the ongoing opioid and homelessness crises in Greater Boston, officials on Wednesday announced plans to put more than 400 units of supportive housing at Shattuck Hospital in Boston’s Franklin Park.” — “Police, veterans cuts were not my fault, Boston city councilor in charge of budget says,” by Gayla Cawley, Boston Herald.   SUBSCRIBE TO POWER SWITCH: The energy landscape is profoundly transforming. Power Switch is a daily newsletter that unlocks the most important stories driving the energy sector and the political forces shaping critical decisions about your energy future, from production to storage, distribution to consumption. Don’t miss out on Power Switch, your guide to the politics of energy transformation in America and around the world. SUBSCRIBE TODAY .     THE RACE FOR CITY HALL — FIRST IN PLAYBOOK: The Environmental League of Massachusetts Action Fund is endorsing Sharon Durkan in the special election for District 8 Boston city councilor. — ENDORSEMENT WARS: Unions are split in the race to replace outgoing City Councilor Frank Baker in District 3, the Dorchester Reporter’s Gintautas Dumcius reports. And labor lawyer Matt Patton is picking up support from former Lt. Gov. Tim Murray , who's holding a fundraiser for Patton next week. — “What increased AAPI representation in Mass. politics means to local city councilors,” by Nicole Garcia, GBH News. DAY IN COURT — “Pentagon documents leak suspect Jack Teixeira pleads not guilty to federal charges,” by Alanna Durkin Richer, The Associated Press: “Jack Teixeira, the Massachusetts Air National Guard member accused of leaking highly classified military documents on a social media platform, pleaded not guilty Wednesday to federal felony charges. … Handcuffed and wearing orange jail garb, Teixeira smiled at family seated in the gallery at the start of the hearing. … Teixeira’s family said in a statement Wednesday that they ‘remain committed as ever’ to supporting him.” WARREN REPORT — “Sherrod Brown strikes banking deal with Tim Scott, Elizabeth Warren and J.D. Vance,” by Eleanor Mueller and Zachary Warmbrodt, POLITICO: “The Senate Banking Committee in a bipartisan vote Wednesday agreed to ratchet up penalties for the executives of failed lenders, increase oversight of the Federal Reserve and restrict megabank takeovers, in Washington’s most significant response yet to this year’s banking turmoil.” — “Orrin Hatch, Elizabeth Warren, Mitt Romney and Hillary Clinton team up to fight endometriosis,” by Scott D. Pierce, Salt Lake Tribune. THE PRESSLEY PARTY — "Pressley seeks to decriminalize abortion through new legislation," by Cheyanne M. Daniels, The Hill: "Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) on Thursday introduced new abortion legislation to protect patients and providers from criminalization by making care more readily accessible and removing systemic barriers to it, as well as calling for federal investments in abortion care. ... The bill calls for coverage of travel and accrued costs, such as lost wages, and boosts federal spending in abortion training, research, outreach and doula care." FROM THE 413 — “POST Commission moves to decertify suspended Springfield Police Officer Gregg Bigda, but saga is not over yet,” by Stephanie Barry, Springfield Republican. — “‘It’s a smack in the face to the residents’: Some Springfield councilors call for further tax relief in city’s next budget,” by Jonah Snowden, Springfield Republican. THE LOCAL ANGLE — “‘A truly surreal experience’: Reversal of Roe leaves some hesitant to travel outside of Mass. while pregnant,” by Felice J. Freyer, Boston Globe: “Massachusetts provides some of the strongest protections for abortion rights of any state — but that shield falls when people venture beyond the state’s borders. As other states introduce ever-stricter abortion bans, pregnant residents in Massachusetts have reason to fear health consequences if they travel and have a miscarriage in a restrictive state.” — “State ups the ante on watershed protection rules for Cape Cod,” by Heather McCarron, Cape Cod Times: “After months of deliberation and public comment, the state is formally raising the stakes on watershed protection rules for Cape Cod, which ultimately means thousands of property owners will need to upgrade or replace septic systems and cesspools." HEARD ‘ROUND THE BUBBLAH TRANSITIONS — Mike Fadel has been named executive director-treasurer of the Massachusetts Teachers Association. He previously was field and organizing director. — Former Democratic nominee for governor Jay Gonzalez will be the next president of Curry College. More from the Boston Globe . HAPPY BIRTHDAY — to Sen. Elizabeth Warren , who is 74; state Rep. Tram Nguyen, state Rep. Kay Khan, Matt Sheaff , senior communications adviser to Rhode Island Gov. Dan McKee, and Brendan Concannon . Want to make an impact? POLITICO Massachusetts has a variety of solutions available for partners looking to reach and activate the most influential people in the Bay State. Have a petition you want signed? A cause you’re promoting? Seeking to increase brand awareness among this key audience? Share your message with our influential readers to foster engagement and drive action. Contact Jesse Shapiro to find out how: jshapiro@politico.com .   Follow us on Twitter Lisa Kashinsky @lisakashinsky   Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook family Playbook  |  Playbook PM  |  California Playbook  |  Florida Playbook  |  Illinois Playbook  |  Massachusetts Playbook  |  New Jersey Playbook  |  New York Playbook  |  Ottawa Playbook  |  Brussels Playbook  |  London Playbook View all our politics and policy newsletters FOLLOW US

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BIBBITY BOEBERT COULDN'T PASS HER GED & WAS GIVEN A COMPASSIONATE PASS ON HER 4TH TRY. BOTH SHE & MTG HAVE TEEN PREGNANCIES DUE TO THEIR FAILURES TO TEACH OFFSPRING ABOUT SEX EVEN WITH THE EXPLODING CASES OF TEEN PREGNANCIES AND STDs. 

EVEN THE MURDOCH TABLOID REPORTED THE DRUG RESISTANT GONORRHEA: 

A nationwide ad campaign is an effort to slow the rise in cases of drug-resistant gonorrhea.

NBC

https://nypost.com/2023/06/20/drug-resistant-super-gonorrhea-spreading-billboards-warn/

Oh, Good, Lauren Boebert Has Introduced Articles of Impeachment

Kevin McCarthy shouldn't waste everyone's time indulging the whims and desires of residents of the cracker factory.

By Charles P. PiercePUBLISHED: JUN 21, 2023

Anna Moneymaker//Getty Images

Dear Lord, the children are at play again. From the Washington Post:

By introducing the articles of impeachment under a privileged resolution, Boebert has superseded House Republican leadership’s ability to control what comes to the House floor. By bypassing the usual process for bringing legislation to a full House vote, Boebert’s action would force lawmakers to vote on the measure in the next two days. But House Democrats announced Tuesday they will move to table the resolution, which would effectively prevent the House from considering a vote on final passage that would impeach Biden.

In a GOP conference meeting Wednesday morning, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (Calif.) and other members of the leadership team argued Republicans needed to build a more concrete case against Biden and let voters see the evidence, while noting Boebert’s impeachment resolution would be dead on arrival in the Senate, according to a person familiar with the meeting who spoke on the condition of anonymity to detail internal conversations.

That's what the inert Speaker of the House is selling? They "need to build a more concrete case against Biden," as opposed to whatever cartoons are rattling around in Lauren Boebert's head? How about not building a case at all against the president since he hasn't done anything wrong? Believe it or not, "Lauren Boebert disagrees with his immigration policy" is neither a high crime nor a misdemeanor.

It’s expected the resolution will be tabled when it comes up on the House floor.

So what? A real Speaker would not have allowed this nonsense to draw a breath. A real Speaker would be trying to rescue the one marginal achievement of his speakership from the fangs and claws of the caucus he purportedly leads. He certainly shouldn't waste his— and our— time indulging the whims and desires of residents of the cracker factory.

Boebert is the second lawmaker from the staunchly conservative House Freedom Caucus to introduce a privileged resolution in just one week, a sign that the small group of far-right Republicans is becoming more emboldened. The group has been incensed since McCarthy largely circumvented their demands to dramatically cut spending when striking a deal with the Biden administration to lift the debt ceiling and avert economic calamity last month. The far-right flank of lawmakers was so angry over the deal that they prevented the House from voting on noncontroversial, partisan legislation for one week until they could ensure concessions from McCarthy. Several Freedom Caucus lawmakers, as well as other hard-right Republicans, relented on their floor blockade once McCarthy directed appropriators to match next year’s government funding to 2022 fiscal year spending levels and allowed an immediate vote on a resolution that would repeal a Biden administration gun regulation.

As I said, lord, the children are at play again.

Boebert’s move comes after Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) introduced a privileged resolution to censure and fine Rep. Adam B. Schiff (D-Calif.) last week for investigating President Donald Trump. That resolution failed after 20 Republicans voted with Democrats to table it, specifically pointing to the $16 million fine as unconstitutional and fearing the action could set a precedent for a Democratic majority to do the same to a Republican in the minority. Luna reintroduced the resolution Tuesday evening after stripping the fine to appease moderates and libertarians. It is now expected to pass as early as Wednesday.

Luna’s push could inspire other far-right lawmakers to fast-track their own prioritized resolutions that largely dabble in culture war issues that ignite Trump’s base. Boebert shouted out her effort on Twitter on Tuesday, writing to Luna: “Love your leadership on this! Thank you!”

I'm going to be very happy when recess is over, assuming it ever is.

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