When an Ambassador calls you “inept,” “insecure,” and “incompetent,” one would think that you would take efforts to respond in a way that showed you are professional, controlled, and dispassionate. Yet, after the secret communications of Britain’s ambassador to the US, Kim Darroch, were leaked, Trump went on the attack and declared that Darroch is a “a very stupid guy” and a “pompous fool.” Moreover, he declared that, because he insulted Trump, no one in the Administration would deal with the representative of one of our oldest and closest allies. It is important to note that Darroch is not only widely respected throughout the world as a diplomat but never intended for these comments to be made public. He was sharing his unvarnished views with his government — something that all ambassadors are expected to do. Update: Darroch has now resigned.
Whoever leaked these communications not only wanted to kneecap Darroch but play Trump. He responded in signature fashion, returning to the issue time and time again. He responded on Twitter by declaring “We will no longer deal with him”. The next day, he continued the attack on Darroch: “The wacky Ambassador that the UK foisted upon the United States is not someone we are thrilled with, a very stupid guy … I don’t know the Ambassador but have been told he is a pompous fool.”
Obviously, Darroch would have had to be replaced given the broken relationship regardless. (He was already scheduled to leave around October). The question is whether he will be given an early replacement under the new Prime Minister. Nevertheless, the damage was already done.
Trump could have shrugged off the controversy while privately demanding an expedited replacement. It is a mystery to me why Trump wants to fulfill the stereotype of his critics with such responses.
The most fascinating question however remains: who most wanted to cause this rift with England?
Daroch’s cables included his assessment – obvious – that Trump axed US participation in the Iran nuclear deal purely out of spite against Obama and that the US – including Pompeo and Bolton in meetings with Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson otherwise lacked a coherent reason or a “day after” strategy.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7244539/Trump-axed-Iran-deal-spite-Obama-British-ambassador-says-Trumps-actions-diplomatic-vandalism.html
Trolling Obama is Trump’s commanding motivation in both foreign and domestic policy. That’s quite a “leader” you Trumpsters have, and you no longer have any principles.
If you like him now, just wait until he wins re-election and the Dems can’t phony up more bogus charges.
“…just wait until he wins re-election”
There’s a lot of time between now and the election. Prolly best not to count your chickens…
“Trump axed US participation in the Iran nuclear deal purely out of spite against Obama”
What a stupid remark, Anon. I wonder if the article’s writer could be that stupid or you paraphrased the statement which is stupid as well.
BBC article about the new ‘leak’:
New leak claims Trump scrapped Iran nuclear deal ‘to spite Obama’
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-48978484
Isn’t the GB Ambassador to the United States now replaced and isn’t that the point? When a diplomat is using such undiplomatic language to undermine an ally’s president (not only *an* ally, but *the* ally wholly responsible for GB not being a German colony) screw decorum, get the jerk fired. He was. End of story.
“Darroch’s resignation may have chilling effect on diplomacy, experts warn”
“UK ambassador to the US’s departure may prompt ‘very big change’ in how international diplomacy is conducted”
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/jul/10/kim-darroch-resignation-effect-international-diplomacy-experts
Excerpt”
Darroch’s fate was met with dismay by those who knew him in Washington, where he had cultivated the reputation of a deft diplomat whose parties at the British embassy were coveted social affairs, often attended by members of the Trump administration.
“Up until this, I think diplomats were able to communicate to their governments with honest and valuable information,” said Sally Quinn, a former journalist and socialite who regularly attended Darroch’s parties. “Clearly, we can’t do that anymore.
“I think it’s going to be a very big change in the way diplomacy is conducted.”
Darroch had close ties with the Trump administration. Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner, the president’s daughter and son-in-law, both senior advisers in the West Wing, frequented his parties, as did former White House press secretaries Sarah Sanders and Sean Spicer.
Quinn said Trump’s frustration was probably rooted in knowing that the source of Darroch’s information was his own staff.
“He entertained constantly at the embassy and he entertained Trump people, because they like him,” Quinn said. “It’s embarrassing for Trump, because he’s got to know it’s coming from the inside.”
Darroch was far from alone within the diplomatic community in his assessment of Trump, she added.
“There is not a single word Kim wrote that isn’t absolutely accurate and isn’t the prevailing view in Washington,” Quinn said. “It could have been anyone.
“Every single diplomat is looking at him and saying, ‘There but for the grace of God go I.’”
Even some of Trump’s Republican allies spoke out in Darroch’s favor.
“Kim Darroch did an outstanding job as Ambassador and sorry to see he has resigned his post,” the South Carolina senator Lindsey Graham tweeted, seeking to distance Trump from Darroch’s resignation by adding he had “got a raw deal” from the media.
The Utah senator Mitt Romney said he was “disappointed” to see Darroch go. “He is a fine man,” Romney, the 2012 Republican presidential nominee, told reporters, adding: “The lack of security on diplomatic communication within a government is a real problem.”
Darroch was appointed to the post of UK’s envoy to the US in 2015 after serving as David Cameron’s national security adviser. That experience made him a key player in coordinating with Washington on complex issues that spanned Russia to Brexit.
Kate Greer, who worked alongside Darroch from 2015 through 2018, said he played a critical role behind the scenes in the international response to Russia’s 2018 nerve agent attack on British soil and also worked closely with the US government to provide support for those impacted by the hurricane that hit Florida, the Gulf and the British Virgin Islands in 2017.
“It’s been a tricky and challenging political environment on both sides of the ocean,” she said. “The leaks were clearly politically motivated and leaked from someone in London as part of this leadership contest and part of this political debate.”
Haass said Darroch’s decision to resign was ultimately in the service of the UK’s incoming leadership.
“He allowed the next prime minister not to have to choose between protecting his ambassador and protecting the relationship with the United States,” Haass said, while adding he did not believe Darroch’s legacy would be greatly tarnished by the circumstances around his departure.
“This was his last post anyhow. As he rides into the sunset, a lot more people know who Kim Darroch is now than they would have a week ago.”
“The truth never hurts a just cause.”
Gandhi
Not presidential:
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1148559442885185536?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet
Some interesting comments, as well.
If he keeps it up, though, perhaps it will work out well for Julian Assange.
JT: “He was already scheduled to leave around October.”
I’ve heard that he was to leave by year’s end, but he didn’t have much time left.
If Trump doesn’t want people to speak (and write) ill of him, perhaps he should be better behaved. He ought to conduct himself in a way that is presidential — in ways that reflect well on both him and the U.S.
Such BS.
Backbiting is typical in politics and is typically political. Epstein hit the news to get at Trump through Acosta but it got at the has-been Clinton. No matter forget the has-been and push at Trump. Further news lets us know that Barry Krischner the Attorney General at that time in Florida seemed to have been running the show. He’s a Democrat and also went after Rush Limbaugh in an inapprpriate fashion, not atypical for Democrats in power. A little more focus on Barry and Acosta might remain since with the Democrat attorney general leading the show Epstein likely would have remained out of jail. If not Acosta is not an important figure and will go.
Acting Presidential as you say is dependent on others that don’t throw mud all the time because that dirties everyone. You are one of those mud throwers that can’t wait to find a dumb article that dirties everyone in its path. Why don’t you show a bit of sophistication?
Title of Article:
‘It Could Have Been Any of Us’: Disdain for Trump Runs Among Ambassadors
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/10/world/europe/kim-darroch-trump.html
By David E. Sanger
July 10, 2019
WASHINGTON — Ask members of the Washington diplomatic corps about the cables that Sir Kim Darroch, the British ambassador who resigned Wednesday, wrote to London describing the dysfunction and chaos of the Trump administration, and their response is uniform: We wrote the same stuff.
“Yes, yes, everyone does,” Gérard Araud, who retired this spring as the French ambassador, said on Wednesday morning of his own missives from Washington. “But fortunately I knew that nothing would remain secret, so I sent them in a most confidential manner.”
So did Mr. Darroch, who, alone and with Mr. Araud, tried to navigate the minefield of serving as the chief representative of longtime American allies to a president who does not think much of the value of alliances.
Mr. Darroch submitted his resignation the morning after Boris Johnson, who is likely to become Britain’s next prime minister, notably declined during a televised debate to defend the diplomat and also refused to criticize President Trump.
In his resignation letter, Mr. Darroch said the furor over his characterization of the Trump administration made it impossible for him to carry out his role.
“Although my posting is not due to end until the end of this year, I believe in the current circumstances the responsible course is to allow the appointment of a new ambassador,” he wrote.
He came to that conclusion after he found himself in the vortex of what for years has been the definition of a classic Washington gaffe: He was caught in public saying something that is widely believed. It would have been stranger, his diplomatic colleagues said, if Mr. Darroch had been writing cables describing the Trump White House as a smooth-running machine.
“It could have been any of us,” one ambassador, who is still serving and therefore spoke on the condition of anonymity, said on Wednesday.
Until Mr. Darroch’s confidential cables appeared in The Daily Mail over the weekend, none of the major ambassadors in Washington had been denounced by Mr. Trump as “wacky” or “very stupid” — descriptors that the envoy’s friends were quick to say hardly applied to one of Britain’s most sophisticated diplomats and former national security advisers.
Mr. Johnson’s failure to back the ambassador was met with withering criticism from opponents, including his rival in the leadership race, Jeremy Hunt, the current foreign secretary. Mr. Hunt called Mr. Trump’s comments “unacceptable” and said that he would keep Mr. Darroch in his job.
“The fact that Sir Kim has been bullied out of his job because of Donald Trump’s tantrums and Boris Johnson’s pathetic lickspittle response is something that shames our country,” said Emily Thornberry, the British opposition Labour Party’s shadow foreign secretary. “It makes a laughingstock out of our government.”
She added, “Just imagine Churchill allowing this humiliating, servile, sycophantic indulgence of the American president’s ego to go unchallenged.”
With a few exceptions — including the ambassadors from Israel and the United Arab Emirates, who have supported Mr. Trump’s every move — foreign diplomats in Washington these days describe living in something of a black hole.
Decisions that directly affect their nations’ trade relationships or troops are delivered with no notice. Their contacts in the State and Treasury Departments as well as in Congress freely tell them they have little idea what decisions Mr. Trump may make.
And the Trump administration has almost reveled in keeping foreign diplomats in the dark. While Mr. Darroch, following in the tradition of his predecessors, hosted receptions in the British Embassy’s grand ballroom and weekend cocktail parties under tents on the lawn overlooking Embassy Row, few administration officials have attended.
There were occasional appearances by Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner, the president’s elder daughter and son-in-law, who also serve as the president’s senior advisers and live with their children a few blocks from the embassy. A few other officials, like Kellyanne Conway, the president’s counselor, showed up at Mr. Darroch’s famous New Year’s parties, held amid the embassy’s stunning art collection.
But those were rare occasions. Mr. Trump’s secretaries of state, Rex W. Tillerson and Mike Pompeo, did not appear to nurture the “special relationship” between the United States and Britain. Nor did Vice President Mike Pence, who lives next door to the British Embassy.
While Mr. Darroch often tried to reach out to the White House and the National Security Council, like most of the ambassadors from North Atlantic Treaty Organization nations, he never quite felt that he broke into the inner circle.
In December, when Mr. Trump announced on Twitter that the United States was withdrawing forces from Syria — where both the British and the French have deployed troops, some of them dependent on the American forces for transportation and intelligence — Mr. Darroch was given no notice.
He called around the capital, reaching out to key members of Congress and national security reporters to glean information. To be fair, Mr. Trump’s own national security team was also taken aback, and the defense secretary, Jim Mattis, resigned in protest. (Mr. Trump later insisted Mr. Mattis was fired.)
Similarly, the White House barely gave allies notice last year of Mr. Trump’s decision to pull out of the Iran nuclear agreement, even though Britain, France and Germany had helped negotiate it. As one NATO ambassador noted, it took weeks for the administration to gather them and describe its new Iran strategy, which was composed largely of a series of 12 demands that Mr. Pompeo also announced in a speech.
“For me, as a foreigner, it was fascinating,” said Mr. Araud, who said he looks back at his tenure as French ambassador as a grand political science experiment. “It’s what happens when a populist leader takes command in a liberal democracy. These people don’t recognize or accept the idea that an ambassador or a bureaucrat could be of any use. They only want to deal with other leaders.”
Mr. Araud recalled a moment in 2017 when France’s foreign minister was planning a trip to Washington. The ambassador gave the State Department two months’ notice to try to get on Mr. Tillerson’s schedule. He did not hear back until a day before the event, Mr. Araud recalled, and was told the meeting would last only 20 minutes.
“So the minister didn’t come,” Mr. Araud said.
Mr. Darroch was somewhat more successful. From his time as Britain’s national security adviser, he had deep contacts in American intelligence agencies and among the permanent class of national security specialists. But even in those conversations, officials often expressed mystification about how decisions in the Trump administration were made and policy was generated.
Traditionally, the British ambassador would be brought in for consultations with senior American officials about major decisions under consideration in the Middle East or in dealing with Russia, where Britain’s Government Communications Headquarters — the British equivalent to the National Security Agency also known as GCHQ — often takes the lead in gathering intelligence.
But not in the Trump era.
All are examples of the chaos that Mr. Darroch had described to his successor as national security adviser, Mark Sedwill, in a 2017 memo that leaked on Saturday, leading to Mr. Trump’s declaration that the ambassador to America’s oldest ally was, in effect, persona non grata.
Mr. Johnson, the front-runner in the prime minister’s race, said on Wednesday that he regretted Mr. Darroch’s departure, and that whoever leaked the ambassador’s messages should be “run down, caught and eviscerated.”
There will be a new British ambassador, presumably appointed after Parliament selects a new prime minister to replace the departing Theresa May and seats a new government. But under current conditions, it is unclear whether that diplomat’s access will be much better.
A comment from the State Department about Mr. Darroch’s departure on Wednesday blandly repeated its commitment to the special relationship.
The two countries “share a bond that is bigger than any individual,” the statement said, “and we look forward to continuing that partnership.” (end of article)
SIGNIFICANT PASSAGE FROM SANGER N Y TIMES PIECE:
“The White House barely gave allies notice last year of Mr. Trump’s decision to pull out of the Iran nuclear agreement, even though Britain, France and Germany had helped negotiate it. As one NATO ambassador noted, it took weeks for the administration to gather them and describe its new Iran strategy, which was composed largely of a series of 12 demands that Mr. Pompeo also announced in a speech”.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
This part tells us that the Nuclear Accord with Iran wasn’t just Obama’s treaty. Britain, France and Germany had also played a role in bringing about the accord. Yet Trump pulled out of that treaty with little notice to those allies.
One might guess that personal business deals Trump and Kushner had with Saudi investors was more important than our western allies or any nuclear accord. Saudi interests came first; buffeted by the sentiments of conservative Israelis.
“The White House barely gave allies notice last year of Mr. Trump’s decision to pull out of the Iran nuclear agreement,”
Everyone was put on notice that the Iran deal was in jeopardy. In fact any intelligent diplomat that paid attention to Donald Trump knew that the deal would either be renegotiated or the US would pull out if Trump were elected. Trump made plenty of statements during his campaign so that it should have been well known before Trump won the Presidency especially since the deal wasn’t even a treaty. I’m surprised Peter Hill didn’t know that.
That is the response seasoned politicans would expect but we didn’t elect this President to imitate failure just help expose and reject them.
‘It Could Have Been Any of Us’: Disdain for Trump Runs Among Ambassadors
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/10/world/europe/kim-darroch-trump.html
Anonymous:
“It Could Have Been Any of Us’: Disdain for Trump Runs Among Ambassadors”
*********************
I surely want a POTUS who is cozy with folks trying to exploit us any way they can to further their own country’s interests! Bad Trump to think only of us and not our former and future adversaries.
Do you think through the comments you make or is it piece work?
Mespo-the-great asks: “Do you think through the comments you make or is it piece work?”
It’s the title of the article, honey. Don’t like it? Don’t read it.
I found the article to be of interest and believe that there are others here who might find some of the content interesting, as well — though not you, of course.
Anonymous:
“It’s the title of the article, honey. Don’t like it? Don’t read it.”
********************
It’s a transparent hit piece, cherry-picked by you and yours to give the false impression that everybody’s … doing/thinking/feeling … it. Pure Goebbels but we’ve come to expect nothing less, deary.
BTW I prefer “Mespo the Unlicensed Fool.” Greatness is too flashy and altogether to common an adjective these days whether deserved or not.
Let me leave you with the thought for the day from Brooks & Dunn. Contrary to some, I see lots of sunshine ahead. Demographics are destiny and attitudes create happiness:
Oops you only got my favorite. Here’s the real deal:
I prefer the Pepe Marquez.
Yeah, mespo, because everyone knows our allies are NK and Russia, not the UK, Germany, and France.
By the way, you’ll enjoy this “F Y Trump” from the aforesaid Washington diplomatic core:
“In what one European diplomat called a subtle but “pretty clear” message of solidarity with departing British Ambassador Kim Darroch, his German counterpart hosted him and the French and European Union ambassadors for breakfast at her official residence in Washington on Thursday.
“I’m honored to host my colleagues and friends,” German Ambassador Emily Haber tweeted, along with a photograph of the four of them smiling together in the morning sunshine.
The posted picture, even more than the bacon and eggs, appeared to be the point of the event. It quickly appeared on the Twitter accounts of French Ambassador Philippe Etienne and E.U. Ambassador Stavros Lambrinidis, and of the British Embassy. Most retweets and replies echoed @JockGlasgow, who wrote: “A reminder of who our true friends are.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/us-allies-hold-breakfast-for-departing-british-ambassador–and-the-message-is-clear/2019/07/11/4e0ad232-a3f0-11e9-b732-41a79c2551bf_story.html?utm_term=.f0dd16ae0f89
Disdain amongst the Foggy Bottom Fairies has always run amongst the professionial military.
It could have been “any of us” or perhaps “any of us” might quietly support the President. Either way doesn’t matter if the information is released either one will be “fired” either by the Americans or the British. There are many Brits that love Trump and many that voted for Brexit that the present British administration hasn’t managed appropriately. Your problem is that you think everyone makes the same assumptions you do. If that were the case Clinton would be President.
Your statement: “Disdain for…” applies to no one and everyone. It is meaningless.
Allan says: “Your statement: “Disdain for…” applies to no one and everyone. It is meaningless.”
It’s the title of the f’ing article. Because it was followed by a link to the article, one might guess that it’s the title…, but not some of the yahoos who wander around this blog.
“It’s the title of the f’ing article.”
That is right and the article is meaningless, but these articles seem to breed ( f’ing article) in the Democratic Swamp where human intellect is lacking but repetition of banal things is repeated from one pundit to the next. Time to get out the rubbers (Galoshes) to prevent the transmission of such idiocy.
You posted the “meaningless” article without providing a point so you have only yourself to blame.
Anonymous, here is an article from the NYTImes that would be more fitting for you to have copied. Take note how Venzuela one of the richest nations with a fantastic oil supply became socialist and now is in its death throws. It gets support from Cuba a favorite of our left. The article tells us how much socialism cares for its people.
—
Desperate for food, a teenager was tricked into leaving Venezuela for a brothel. Dozens died when her boat sank. The government barely responded.
Wednesday, July 10, 2019 6:02 PM EST
Put in a fishing boat, Yoskeili Zurita said she sped away with dozens of other women, including her cousin. But the overloaded skiff took on water fast — and capsized with the roll of a sudden swell.
The boat sank with 38 passengers in late April, most of them women. Only nine people survived, among them Yoskeili and other women who the authorities now say were victims of a human smuggling ring….
You posted the “meaningless” article without providing a point
Estovir, why are you copying Tabby’s ‘joke’..?? And what is this ‘joke’ even commenting on..??
And what is this ‘joke’ even commenting on..??
Never end a sentence with a preposition.
You were just schooled by an immigrant.
NEW BOOK REVEALS PANIC IN TRUMP’S CAMPAIGN..
WHEN ACCESS HOLLYWOOD TAPE SURFACED
It was just before 4 p.m. in the nation’s capital when the Washington Post published an “October surprise” for the ages.
Fahrenthold’s story told of an exclusively obtained audio recording of Trump, 11 years earlier and newly married, boasting of his sexual exploits to television host Billy Bush. The two were riding together on a bus, preparing to shoot a segment for the NBC show Access Hollywood, when Trump recalled how he’d once tried to sleep with Bush’s co-host, Nancy O’Dell.
“I moved on her and I failed. I’ll admit it. I did try and f**k her. She was married. And I moved on her very heavily,” Trump said on the tape. “In fact, I took her out furniture shopping. She wanted to get some furniture. I said, ‘I’ll show you where they have some nice furniture.’ I took her out furniture—I moved on her like a b**h. But I couldn’t get there. And she was married.”
Then, when the two men spotted a young woman awaiting them outside the bus—actress Arianne Zucker—Trump told Bush, “I’ve got to use some Tic Tacs just in case I start kissing her. You know, I’m automatically attracted to beautiful—I just start kissing them. It’s like a magnet. Just kiss. I don’t even wait.”
Trump added, “And when you’re a star, they let you do it. You can do anything. Grab ’em by the pussy. You can do anything.”
The fallout was apocalyptic.
House Speaker Paul Ryan had been scheduled to make his first joint appearance with Trump the next morning at Fall Fest, the annual beer-and-bratwurst political rally in his district. Preparing to speak at a fundraiser for a congressman in Cleveland, Ryan was pulled aside by his longtime aide, Kevin Seifert, who showed him the story. Ryan, the Boy Scout, burst into a fit of cursing just outside a roomful of wealthy donors.
He phoned Priebus immediately. “He cannot come here,” Ryan said. “You need to tell him.”
Priebus relayed this to Trump, who promptly shot the messenger. “Oh no,” the Republican nominee replied, “I’m coming.”
The party chairman called Ryan back with Trump’s reaction. “You’re gonna have to publicly disinvite him, Paul.”
“Fine, then he’s disinvited. He ain’t coming,” the speaker said, raising his voice to Priebus for the first time in their decades-long relationship. “This isn’t something I’m intimidated by.”
A short while later, Ryan’s office blasted out a news release saying he was “sickened” by Trump’s remarks and announcing the presidential candidate’s banishment from the Wisconsin event. Priebus understood but was nonetheless distraught. He had started Fall Fest years ago as the Wisconsin GOP chairman. Saturday’s event was supposed to be a homecoming for him and a harmonious breakthrough for the party. All of them—Priebus, Trump, Ryan—were meant to take the stage together, at long last projecting a united front entering the final weeks of the campaign.
Up until that point, despite Trump’s self-destructive antics, Priebus believed his party had a chance. Clinton was so deeply flawed, and the Democratic base had been made so complacent by the combination of her candidacy and eight years in power, that Priebus clung to the belief that Trump somehow, in some way, might just win the White House.
Everything changed when he heard the Access Hollywood tape. And it wasn’t just the party chairman’s own gut reaction. Over the next 36 hours, Priebus fielded scores of phone calls from the most prominent people in Republican politics: congressmen and senators, governors, donors, activists and his own RNC members. Every single person was telling him the same thing: Trump was doomed. The party needed to replace him with Mike Pence atop the ticket.
Reconnecting by phone later that night, Ryan demanded that the national party take action to excommunicate Trump. “This is fatal,” he told Priebus. “How can you get him out of the race?”
Priebus had to explain—to Ryan and to everyone else—that there was no mechanism for removing Trump. But this answer proved inadequate. The voices on the other end of the line demanded that something be done. Many suggested that he, the RNC chairman, publicly renounce Trump and ask for him to step aside as the nominee for the good of the party. (Even some of the people endorsing such an ultimatum knew how silly it sounded. Trump cared nothing for the party; he had not belonged to it until signing his name to a piece of paper a year earlier.)
For his part, Trump had agreed after some cajoling to offer a nonapology apology, issuing a statement to the Post that read, “This was locker room banter, a private conversation that took place many years ago. Bill Clinton has said far worse to me on the golf course—not even close. I apologize if anyone was offended.”
But his team quickly realized this would not suffice. By Friday evening, Trump’s campaign appeared on the brink of collapse. There were rumors of an imminent mass exodus of Republican officials who would publicly withdraw their support for the party’s nominee. The first departures came that very night.
Sen. Mike Lee of Utah, whom Trump had recently named to an extended list of potential Supreme Court nominees, called on Trump to drop out. So did his colleague Sen. Mark Kirk of Illinois, who asked the RNC to “engage rules for emergency replacement.” Jason Chaffetz, the Utah congressman and chairman of the House Oversight Committee, told a local TV station, “I’m out. I can no longer in good conscience endorse this person for president. It is some of the most abhorrent and offensive comments that you can possibly imagine.”
Trump’s campaign was in scramble mode. He and Clinton were scheduled to debate Sunday night in St. Louis. Convinced that a thorough, videotaped apology was their only chance to survive the weekend, his senior aides set about staging the production. Some tinkered with the text, debating how much emphasis to place on the Clintons’ past scandals involving women. Others prepared for the most important video shoot of the celebrity’s career, cycling between four background screens: daytime Manhattan, nighttime Manhattan, campaign signage or a flat, unassuming blue.
Trump seemed mystified by the blur of manic activity. “I’ve never taken anyone furniture shopping!” he laughed, throwing up his arms. His staff members traded disoriented looks.
Just after midnight, on Saturday, October 8, the campaign posted a 90-second video clip to Trump’s Facebook page. Against a dark superimposed horizon of illuminated skyscrapers, Trump looked directly into the camera. “I’ve never said I’m a perfect person, nor pretended to be someone that I’m not. I’ve said and done things I regret, and the words released today on this more than a decade-old video are one of them. Anyone who knows me know these words don’t reflect who I am. I said it, I was wrong, and I apologize,” he said.
Trump added, “I’ve said some foolish things, but there is a big difference between the words and actions of other people. Bill Clinton has actually abused women and Hillary has bullied, attacked, shamed, and intimidated his victims. We will discuss this more in the coming days. See you at the debate on Sunday.”
Edited from: “Mother Is Not Going To Like This: The 48 Hours That Almost Brought Down Trump”
Excerpts from yet-to-be-released book by Tim Alberta
Today’s Politico
Regarding Above:
The book notes that is was Trump’s idea to take the offense and simply make Bill Clinton’s past the issue when he met Hillary for a scheduled debate 2 days later. Trump may have played it right. Though Wikileaks and James Comey’s letter to Congress were also quite helpful.
But this excerpt illustrates just how ready the Republican establishment was to abandon Trump weeks before the election. Which may explain why Republicans were okay with letting Robert Mueller open a Special Counsel’s office. After the Access Hollywood crisis, Republicans were probably inclined to expect the worst with Trump.
This excerpt might also explain why GOP star Paul Ryan decided to leave Congress when he did. According to this excerpt, Ryan, more than anyone, regarded Trump as toxic.
“Trump added, “I’ve said some foolish things, but there is a big difference between the words and actions…”
Peter is afraid of being caught naked or having sex. Thus this type of news intrigues and stimulates him even though it carefully avoids dealing with rapists and child molesters that are friends of Democrats or Democrats in high places. A whole story has been woven here but the actual dialogue is unknown pieced together by those that wish to sell a book whose target audience is people like Peter. Nudity and sex are normal Peter and so is the offtime foul word. There is a difference between words and actions. You are accusing Trump of words. Did you accuse Bill Clinton of his actions?
I think people like Peter and Lisa Bloom perform a valuable service, Allan.😉😁
We all know how this ultimately played out……it destroyed Trump’s chances of being elected. That and the Lisa Bloom press conference. If NBC has misplaced the old tape of out-takes where Trump is talking to Billy Bush, they have plenty of time to find it and play it again right before the 2020 election.
But it never hurts to have HHHNN get an early start 15-16 months before Election Day.
Maybe if NBC replays the tape in October.-Nov 2020, and there’s an early November 2020 press conference called by Lisa Bloom, it’ll be more effective this time around for the Democratic nominee.
I would hope that HHHNN will also keep quoting a c. 15 year old comment about Epstein by Trump, long before Epstein was held in disgrace, as though it were some king of evidence that incriminates Trump.
The ALL- CAP HEADLINES from Peter’s HHHNN media outlet always makes the case he’s trying to make even more compelling.😄😃😂🤣
Tom, the excerpt is interesting because it shows how close the Republicans came to actually dumping Trump. That was not previously known. And Trump, to his credit, was smart to take the offense. Democrats could learn from him. A good offense is always the best defense.
https://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/09/us/politics/donald-trump-campaign.html
Peter,
It actually was known at the time that numerous GOP politicians were abandoning Trump.
The author hyping a new book may claim to have some additional details that we’re not previously known.
But it was no secret that the Access Hollywood story nearly ended Trump’s candidacy.
Had NBC “discovered” the 12? year old outtake video a few weeks later, and used it about a week before the election, they might have ensured his defeat.
As it was, people had time to consider that this was an old tape of a 50 year old guy talking like a junior high school kid.
I think when Lisa Bloom tried to pile on a few days before the election with the press conference fiasco, it actually helped Trump.
On November 27, 2017, Bush was hospitalized after being hit in the head by a golf ball.[33]
Was he on the links at Mar a Lago when this happened to Billy Bush?😄
Democrats already know about “a good offense”. When they couldn’t block confirmation of Kavanaugh, they tried to sink him by other means.
A similar tactic was used to marginalize Sessions after he’d been confirmed.
The offendive against Roy Moore in the Alsbama Senate race started after it was not feasible to replace him on the ballot.
And aided by massively outspending him in the campaign; that gave the Democratic candidate, Doug Jones, a narrow victory.
The Trump- Russia collusion hype has been played since before Trump was even inaugurated. Since the Mueller Report shot that down, Trump opponents are banking on the the obstruction issue getting and maintaining traction.
There’s been a ridiculous number of TV appearances by Adam Schiff. Avenatti was closing in on Schiff’s record, but I haven’t seen as much of him recently…..he seems to be occupied with other issues.
I’ll stop with these examples, but it isn’t that tough to find more examples of the Democratic offensives.
Unless one is intentionally ignoring those examples.
Donald Trump: “I am a very stable genius.”