I was looking through Robert Draper’s piece in the New York Times Magazine on the Senate races, hoping I’d find something I didn’t already know. I didn’t find much, unfortunately, but I did notice this:
The friction between the [Donald Trump] and his party became jarringly apparent during a closed-door meeting at the Capitol Hill Club on July 7 between Trump and 41 Republican senators. A few of them accused Trump of jeopardizing the party’s prospects in November; Trump fired back with insults, labeling [Sen. Mark] Kirk [of Illinois]— who was not present but has publicly criticized Trump — a “loser.”
This is some incredible shit on so many levels. For starters, Trump came to this meeting to mend some fences and make some friends, but he didn’t act like an honored guest and it doesn’t sound like he was treated like one either.
Then there’s the fact that he went after a senator who wasn’t even present and called him a ‘loser.’
Then there’s the fact that the ‘loser’ is restricted to a wheelchair much of the time because he had a massive stroke four years ago. Not to mention, Senator Kirk is a veteran naval intelligence officer who might be afforded just a little respect on those grounds alone.
Trump is obviously pissed off that Senator Kirk rescinded his endorsement of his candidacy, but any normal human being would find a more delicate way to express his displeasure. And it’s clear that Trump does not care even a little bit about Senate Republicans.
None of this seems to overly concern Trump. When I asked him recently whether the party’s maintaining its majority in the Senate meant anything to him, he replied: “Well, I’d like them to do that. But I don’t mind being a free agent, either.”
The guy will say anything, but unlike Hillary Clinton he seems to have no appreciation of how things get done in Washington DC and the importance of a president’s party having some control of Congress. He may want to be a free agent as president, but he won’t find any Democrats willing to work with him. And the way he’s treating Republican senators, he won’t exactly have them lining up to stick their necks out for him.
