President Trump aired a litany of grievances today, claiming he has a “stacked deck” against him in 2020, putting down his top aide’s husband as a “total loser” and renewing his attacks on the Sen. John McCain.
Many Americans are wondering aloud why Trump is so agitated, and why he is lashing out at one of the most respected senators in modern history.
“I was never a fan of John McCain and I never will be,” Trump said less than seven months after the the longtime senator and onetime prisoner of war died.
The comments capped another eyebrow-raising few days for Trump, even by the standards of a man who has regularly flouted the conventions of the presidency.
On Sunday alone, Trump sent out 29 tweets and retweets that touched on everything from General Motors to his media criticism of Fox News — a consequence, people close to him say, of another isolated weekend in the White House.
Taken together, Trump’s scattershot comments paint a picture of a president who feels under-appreciated and under siege as he obsesses over his upcoming reelection bid.
Plus there is the very real possibility special counsel Robert Mueller will deliver his report about possible Trump ties to Russia to the Justice Department next week.
Has the president been tipped off by his new Attorney General as to the likelihood of what the report contains?
Trump’s outbursts come after he faced an embarrassing rebuke last week, when 12 Republican senators voted against his declaration of a national emergency at the southern border, prompting his first veto.
The day began, as it almost always does for Trump, on Twitter.
The Fake News Media has NEVER been more Dishonest or Corrupt than it is right now. There has never been a time like this in American History. Very exciting but also, very sad! Fake News is the absolute Enemy of the People and our Country itself!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 19, 2019
It was a continuation of an airing of complaints that stretched through the weekend and into Monday afternoon, when the president expressed frustration that he wasn’t getting enough attention for donating his salary to federal agencies, even as he insisted he didn’t want any credit.
Trump took a break from Twitter on today to meet with Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, who has been dubbed the “Trump of the tropics.”
And Trump seemed to bask in Bolsonaro’s adoration after weathering more than two years of scorn from other heads of state.
“I’m very proud to hear the president use the term fake news,” Trump said of Bolsonaro at one point.
But even as he touted the close relationship between the United States and Brazil, Trump was eager to talk about the many other issues on his mind.
Trump weighed in on what he sees as tech companies’ bias against conservatives. “It seems to be if they are conservative, if they are Republicans, in a certain group, there is discrimination,” Trump said.
He was also quick to allege that companies like Twitter and Facebook were colluding to suppress Republicans, a notable accusation considering the president has spent months going after Democrats for what he says are accusations of Trump-Russia collusion made without clear evidence.
“We use the word collusion loosely all the time and I will tell you there is collusion with respect to [social media companies], because something has to be going on,” Trump said.
It’s a “stacked deck” against him, the president complained, when it comes to social media and television news.
“Look at what is happening with the networks, what is happening with different shows and it’s hard to believe we win,” he said. “But I tell you what it really shows: The people are smart. The people get it.”
Earlier today, Trump launched his most pointed attack to date on lawyer George Conway, the husband of his senior adviser Kellyanne Conway.
“A total loser!” he wrote, retweeting an allegation from Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale that Trump rejected Conway for a job in the administration that “he desperately wanted.”
A total loser! https://t.co/vm3Vv2f9jf
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 19, 2019
“LOL,” Conway responded on Twitter before elaborating in a Washington Post interview.
“It’s so maddening to watch,” said Conway, a veteran conservative Washington attorney. “The mendacity, the incompetence, it’s just maddening to watch. The tweeting is just the way to get it out of the way, so I can get it off my chest and move on with my life that day. That’s basically it. Frankly, it’s so I don’t end up screaming at her about it.”