The correct answer to this question is that anything that annoys Jim Acosta is satisfying. It’s the political equivalent of a child’s laugh or a breeze on a sunny spring afternoon. A shadow falling theatrically across his face as he grieves yet another Blow To Our Democracy is one of the purest, simplest delights modern life affords.
I continue to believe Trump’s (admittedly odd) “calm before the storm” remark last night was a reference to decertifying the Iran deal. I don’t think it was about “Rexit” as that probably would have happened by now if it was going to happen anytime soon. I don’t think it was about North Korea either, as even Trump has the basic common sense not to telegraph a preemptive strike that would start a major war, I hope.
Could it have been about … Russiagate? This news, breaking this afternoon, sounds ominous:
ABC News: Robert Mueller's team met behind closed doors today w an unknown group of attorneys & chief judge of US District Court in DC
— Michael Del Moro (@MikeDelMoro) October 6, 2017
If someone’s getting indicted and the president somehow got a heads up about it, he could act in one of two ways — or both, I suppose. A Category Four storm would be to start handing out preemptive pardons to Mike Flynn and Paul Manafort. A Category Five direct hit would be to fire Mueller. Make sure you have canned goods and plenty of bottled water stocked up this weekend.
A new AP poll out this afternoon has him at 32/67 approval nationally with just 67 percent of Republicans giving him thumbs up, a paltry number for a sitting president’s own party. That’s probably an outlier; no poll tracked by RCP has him doing anywhere near that badly. (The Pew poll I linked last night that had him at 88 percent among GOPers was conducted in June.) But there’s a chance that the AP is picking up a downturn due to his handling of Hurricane Irma and Puerto Rico, subjects on which his polling has been poor. At least Jim Acosta’s happy, I guess.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member