Day 1,032: Trump had a particularly rotten weekend
The number of “good” and “scandal-free” weeks for Donald Trump over the past three years can be counted on one hand. Weekends tend to be a bit calmer, save for hundreds of tweets from itchy Twitter fingers.
This weekend Trump enjoyed no such break.
Leading from Friday into the weekend was news that his buddy and longtime adviser Roger Stone was convicted of lying to Congress, witness tampering and obstruction, all to protect Trump.
Saturday, Louisiana had a gubernatorial election. Trump expended tremendous political capital pushing for the ouster of John Bel Edwards, a Democrat. He even made three trips to the state, including one Thursday to stump for the Republican nominee, Eddie Rispone. He tweeted his support for Rispone numerous times.
When the votes were tallied, however, Edwards was reelected in a state Trump easily carried in 2016. Edwards’ win was, at the very least, a sign that Trump’s star is fading for many Americans, even in deep red states.
Saturday, Trump also made a mysterious trip to the hospital that the White House is claiming was a routine part of his physical. But that doesn’t pass the smell test considering the circumstances.
And, of course, Trump had to deal with the non-stop chatter of last week’s impeachment hearings and the danger of this week’s. He’s gotten so defensive that he’s calling a Mike Pence aide a “Never Trumper,” apparently just because she’s testifying.
And most dangerously for Trump, someone who spoke directly with him a number of times about applying pressure on Ukraine to investigate the Biden family is set to testify next week. U.S. Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland is expected to testify about conversations he had with Trump and the nature of his talks with Ukrainian counterparts, despite Ukraine not being part of the E.U. (Lest he too be labeled a “Never Trumper” one day, Trump appointed Sondland to the post after he donated $1 million to Trump’s inaugural committee.)
With Sondland’s testimony, all hearsay concerns from Republicans will get thrown out the window and it will become even harder to defend Trump’s actions. Trump and Sondland spoke on multiple occasions and the nature of the conversations have largely been fleshed out in exhibits, transcripts and other witnesses.
A rough weekend almost certainly portends a rough upcoming week for Trump.
1,032 days in, 430 to go
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