Trump doesn’t care about the midterms? Why that misses the mark
It’s right up there with such presidential fibs as "Read my lips – no new taxes" and "I did not have sexual relations with that woman."
The latest declaration belongs to President Donald Trump: "I don’t care about the midterms."
Right.
There is a mountain of evidence that the president very much cares about the midterms.
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So why claim otherwise?
It was his way of saying he’s above petty politics, which seems to be the only kind of politics we have these days.
It wasn’t as bad as "I don’t care about Americans’ financial problems." But still.
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This was Trump’s way of saying that nothing is more important than stopping Iran from developing a nuclear weapon. Despite the two countries exchanging airstrikes, Axios reported yesterday that the administration and the Iranians had reached agreement on a 60-day memo that would reopen the Strait of Hormuz in exchange for the lifting of the U.S. blockade. Other news outlets later confirmed this.
The nuclear question – the very rationale for going to war – would be put off until the future.
The president said he wanted a couple of days to think about it.
As for the midterms:
Trump devoted enormous energy to defeating Republicans he views as disloyal, including Thomas Massie and Bill Cassidy, and can take credit for scandal-plagued Texas Republican Ken Paxton wiping out incumbent senator John Cornyn.
Trump is also the driving force behind the redistricting wars, an effort to pick up more GOP seats in the House that generally happens at the end of each decade.
The president pounced on Paxton’s Democratic opponent, James Talarico:
"A strong Open Borders advocate, he is WEAK ON CRIME, believes there are 6 genders, is insulting to Jesus Christ, will never support the Military…a Vegan who dislikes meat…" He also compared him to Alfred E. Neuman, the gap-toothed cover boy of Mad magazine.
And he doesn’t care about the midterms?
Talarico, who gained fame when CBS refused to air his interview with Stephen Colbert, is not a vegan. But he made the rookie mistake of saying he had ordered vegan meals for his campaign.
Paxton has been impeached (and acquitted), has settled federal charges of health care fraud and been accused by his soon-to-be ex-wife of adultery.
But after giving him a free ride, the media have suddenly turned on Talarico for what he called "cringey comments."
Under questioning by CBS’s Ed O’Keefe, the Democrat was asked to explain such past statements as "God is non-binary."
Talarico said he was being intentionally provocative but what he meant was that "God can’t be defined by human categories."
What about having said "there are six biological variations based on chromosomes?"
In each case, Talarico tried to minimize or back away from his controversial comments.
"There are some statements that I’ve made that I certainly regret. There are statements that I’ve made where I’ve missed the mark. I’ll be the first to admit that. But Ken Paxton is intentionally clipping my cringey comments to distract from his career of corruption."
Trump has made a couple of economic speeches, but many Republicans are criticizing him for being fixated on such matters as the White House ballroom and the $1.8 billion fund that would go mainly to the Jan. 6 lawbreakers, who he calls patriots.
The latest example: Having his Justice Department investigate writer E. Jean Carroll, who won $88 million from him, as yet unpaid, in defamation suits related to sexual assault.
Many Americans, fed up with both parties, believe that lying is woven into the fabric of politics. And two belated confessions this week support that thesis.
First, Newt Gingrich said it was a "mistake" to impeach Bill Clinton over Monica Lewinsky, and that, as speaker, he knew that at the time because of negative feedback from his daughters. He still believes the former president committed perjury in the Paula Jones case, but admits that Clinton left office at the height of his popularity.
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Second, Jill Biden, after praising her husband’s confused and incoherent debate against Trump, now tells "CBS Sunday Morning" that the meltdown frightened her:
"I thought ‘Oh my God, he’s having a stroke.’ And it scared me to death."
Look, Trump has said that a president’s party almost always loses seats in his sixth year, and he’s right. The combination of the Iran war and soaring prices at home clearly doesn’t help.
But not caring about the midterms? Oh, he cares, very deeply.