They’re on non-speakers
Trump and Mitch McConnell are not getting along at all.
The relationship between President Trump and Senator Mitch McConnell, the majority leader, has disintegrated to the point that they have not spoken to each other in weeks, and Mr. McConnell has privately expressed uncertainty that Mr. Trump will be able to salvage his administration after a series of summer crises.
What was once an uneasy governing alliance has curdled into a feud of mutual resentment and sometimes outright hostility, complicated by the position of Mr. McConnell’s wife, Elaine L. Chao, in Mr. Trump’s cabinet, according to more than a dozen people briefed on their imperiled partnership. Angry phone calls and private badmouthing have devolved into open conflict, with the president threatening to oppose Republican senators who cross him, and Mr. McConnell mobilizing to their defense.
…
In a series of tweets this month, Mr. Trump criticized Mr. McConnell publicly, then berated him in a phone call that quickly devolved into a profane shouting match.
During the call, which Mr. Trump initiated on Aug. 9 from his New Jersey golf club, the president accused Mr. McConnell of bungling the health care issue. He was even more animated about what he intimated was the Senate leader’s refusal to protect him from investigations of Russian interference in the 2016 election, according to Republicans briefed on the conversation.
Classic Trump. I detest McConnell, but honestly – what narcissism it takes for Trump to expect him to protect him from the FBI.
Mr. McConnell has fumed over Mr. Trump’s regular threats against fellow Republicans and criticism of Senate rules, and questioned Mr. Trump’s understanding of the presidency in a public speech. Mr. McConnell has made sharper comments in private, describing Mr. Trump as entirely unwilling to learn the basics of governing.
Yes; wasn’t that always obvious? Did McConnell think Trump was going to change just because he won the election?
Mr. Trump has also continued to badger and threaten Mr. McConnell’s Senate colleagues, including Senator Jeff Flake of Arizona, whose Republican primary challenger was praised by Mr. Trump last week.
Great to see that Dr. Kelli Ward is running against Flake Jeff Flake, who is WEAK on borders, crime and a non-factor in Senate. He's toxic!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 17, 2017
Mr. Trump was set to hold a campaign rally on Tuesday night in Phoenix, and Republicans feared he would use the event to savage Mr. Flake again.
If he does, senior Republican officials said the party’s senators would stand up for their colleague. A Republican “super PAC” aligned with Mr. McConnell released a web ad on Tuesday assailing Mr. Flake’s Republican rival, Kelli Ward, as a fringe-dwelling conspiracy theorist.
So it’s becoming a circular firing squad. Good.
The fury among Senate Republicans toward Mr. Trump has been building since last month, even before he lashed out at Mr. McConnell. Some of them blame the president for not being able to rally the party around any version of legislation to repeal the Affordable Care Act, accusing him of not knowing even the basics about the policy. Senate Republicans also say strong-arm tactics from the White House backfired, making it harder to cobble together votes and have left bad feelings in the caucus.
Well, again – of course. He’s stupid and ignorant and lazy; of course he doesn’t know even the basics about the policy. Had they not noticed?
The combination of the president’s frontal attacks on Senate Republicans and his claim that there were “fine people” marching with white supremacists in Charlottesville has emboldened lawmakers to criticize Mr. Trump in withering terms.
Senator Bob Corker of Tennessee rebuked Mr. Trump last week for failing to “demonstrate the stability nor some of the competence” required of presidents. On Monday, Senator Susan Collins of Maine said in a television interview that she was uncertain Mr. Trump would be the Republican presidential nominee in 2020.
Too bad they didn’t prevent him from becoming president.
Mitch McConnell and Paul Ryan would not have any trouble getting the votes to get rid of Trump if they were willing to reach across the aisle for them. It’d even be statesman-like. Of course, they’d both have to abandon dedicated Trump voters, in future primaries and general elections, for themselves and those who stand with them. Mind you, they’d likely attract some voters they’d never have a chance at otherwise in those general elections.
Any time. Any time at all. When they’re not so much as twitching toward that button, my sympathy for having to deal with the terrible orange anger monster isn’t so much as a twitch either.
Oh yeah. I have no sympathy for them whatsoever. As I said – they didn’t really try to stop him. They half-assedly tried before he got the nomination, but then they fell right into line. No sympathy.
One thing that never seems to occur to Trump is that the reason the Republican senators haven’t been able to get rid of the ACA is that they don’t have the votes because…many Senators know that the people don’t want it gotten rid of, just fix any problems.
But then, in spite of the sound and fury, this campaign–>administration was never about the voters, the people of the United States, or anything but the giant Trump ego, which I suspect is as orange as he is (though I must confess, I’m not sure what would be the difference between an orange ego and, say, a purple one).
Trump is angry because he perceives the Senators as working for him, and they are not doing what he tells them. The Senators are angry because they perceive the President as working for the wealthy, and Trump is annoying them. The rest of us have the odd impression that both the President and the Senators are supposed to work for us, but we keep insisting on electing Presidents and Senators who don’t understand that (I’m using we in the broad sense here. There is literally no one in any of those positions that I have ever voted for. The people I have voted for are now back home either waiting for the next election or retiring from politics for good).