This is a big week for Trump. Trumpcare goes to a vote in the House on Thursday; Neil Gorsuch and James Comey will both face questions in Congress; and he is expected to sign a number of executive orders on trade. Trump needs things to go right. As I wrote this morning, he is now more unpopular than Barack Obama was at any point in his eight years in office. So how is Trump responding to the moment? By tweeting angry nonsense.
James Clapper and others stated that there is no evidence Potus colluded with Russia. This story is FAKE NEWS and everyone knows it!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 20, 2017
The Democrats made up and pushed the Russian story as an excuse for running a terrible campaign. Big advantage in Electoral College & lost!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 20, 2017
The real story that Congress, the FBI and all others should be looking into is the leaking of Classified information. Must find leaker now!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 20, 2017
Just heard Fake News CNN is doing polls again despite the fact that their election polls were a WAY OFF disaster. Much higher ratings at Fox
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 20, 2017
What about all of the contact with the Clinton campaign and the Russians? Also, is it true that the DNC would not let the FBI in to look?
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 20, 2017
The most amazing thing about these paranoid tweets is how unoriginal they are. Trump has been tweeting about some of these fever dreams (e.g. the fake polls) for months. But the moment has long moved past Trump’s angry attempts to muddy the waters: There is now widespread consensus that Russia meddled in the election to help him, and the internal politics of the DNC is not the story that it was a month ago.
This is how Trump reacts when he’s painted himself into a corner. But it’s no way to jumpstart what may end up being the most important week in his presidency so far. This is what Trump does when things are going badly: He self-destructs.