Day 29: The Shit Sandwich Administration
Donald Trump’s press conference yesterday — the one where he berated the media; claimed he gets to be the arbiter of what is and isn’t fake news; paradoxically declared that intelligence leaks are real but the news reporting them is fake; asked a black reporter if members of the Congressional Black Caucus were friends of hers; bragged about his electoral college victory; lied about the size of that victory; stammered an absurd explanation when called out on that lie; assessed worthiness of reporters’ questions by their ratings; praised Putin’s intelligence for aggressive military maneuvers near the U.S. military; opined that anti-Semitism done in his name is actually being done by his opponents in an attempt to fool the media; screamed that drugs are cheaper than candy; explained, unexplained and reexplained who, when and how people from his staff did or did not speak to Russian operatives; praised Mike Flynn after proclaiming Flynn lied to Mike Pence; and said “Russia is fake news” — was an unprecedented, unmitigated, unhinged disaster.
Even Fox News’ Shepard Smith and some congressional Republicans are at the end of their rope.
As if that wasn’t enough, Trump’s choice to replace the fired Mike Flynn, Vice Admiral Robert Harward, passed on the gig. Harward — by all accounts, a principled, smart, well-accomplished and sane man — in a statement said familial concerns played into him turning down the job.
However, the truth is that Harward didn’t like the food the White House is serving.
A friend of Harward’s said he was reluctant to take the job because the White House seems so chaotic. Harward called the offer a “s*** sandwich,” the friend said.
A Republican official told CNN that Harward made it a condition of taking the job that he could form his own team. In the end, he didn’t feel that was the case.
And a senior Republican familiar with the process added that “a question of clarity regarding the lines of authority” was central in Harward’s decision.
Harward didn’t want to be stuck with Steve Bannon — who shouldn’t be anywhere near the National Security Council— and a team of incompetents.
Again: he’s principled, smart, well-accomplished and sane.
A half dozen staffers had to be fired for failing background checks.
This morning, though the White House has since denied it, news broke of draft memo authorizing 100,000 National Guard troops to potentially engage in Gestapo-like raids of cities to deport people whose only crime is being here illegally.
While the White House’s denial attempts to put this issue to bed, we know that the White House and its spokespeople are wholly unreliable.
It hasn’t even been a month and we’ve reached Level Shit Sandwich.
29 days in, 1433 to go
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