Trump Et Alii Stand By Their Man

Trump’s Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh appears on Fox News, with his wife Ashley

 

Trump And Republicans Turn Up The Fire And Fan The Flames In Support Of Their Supreme Court Nominee Brett Kavanaugh…

 

Kavanaugh is still scheduled to face his first accuser who came forward, Christine Blasey Ford, in a Judiciary Committee hearing Thursday, but in the meantime, the Supreme Court nominee’s supporters suddenly transformed from a bunch of cheerleaders showering Kavanaugh with high praise into a band of fierce culture warriors engaged in some kind of apocalyptic battle.

Is it a sign of desperation? Or are they tapping into a full-fledged but not yet full-voiced #metoo backlash that’s already underway? Or is it simply a singular focus on delivering the goods to a base that doesn’t seem to mind how damaged someone may be as long as they get the decisions they want out of that person? And for years and years and years.

Kavanaugh showed up with his wife Ashley on Fox, after issuing his most strongly worded statement yet in the form of a letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee, denying his role in the alleged sexual assault, saying in part: “The coordinated effort to destroy my good name will not drive me out. The vile threats of violence against my family will not drive me out. The last-minute character assassination will not succeed”.

Trump too took it up a notch, calling the allegations against Kavanaugh among the “single most unfair, unjust things to happen to a candidate for anything.” And Tweeting a short time ago:

 

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell was perhaps the most brazen of all, condemning Democrats for blocking a “qualified, experienced and mainstream nominee”, when they’re only borrowing the same strategy he used to block Obama’s supreme court nominee, the “qualified, experienced and mainstream” Merrick Garland. He should be flattered. Here’s a clip from the Senate floor:

 

Meanwhile, something else very strange was going on at the White House: many major news organizations reported that Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein had resigned, or had been fired, or was about to be fired. We didn’t report it yesterday because we knew Trump wasn’t in Washington; he’s in New York to wreak some havoc at the U.N. Although it wouldn’t be out of character for the President to leave a firing to someone else.

Last Friday, the New York Times reported that at one point early in his tenure–just 2 weeks into his job– Rosenstein had brought up the idea of secretly recording Trump and of rallying certain cabinet members to consider invoking the 25th Amendment, declaring Trump unfit for office, something Rosenstein’s supporters and acquaintances insisted was “a joke” or “sarcastic”. But only Trump can get away with that excuse (and even he really can’t.) Either way, the story is an obvious attempt by whomever leaked it to get Rosenstein fired, and they had the patience to hold it until a crisis moment.

Of course, Rosenstein oversees the work of Special Counsel Robert Mueller and the Russia investigation, since Attorney General Jeff Sessions recused himself much to Trump’s chagrin. Rosenstein also famously wrote the memo justifying Trump’s firing of then-FBI Director James Comey, and how it had nothing to do with the Russia investigation, which Trump then stomped all over in an interview with Lester Holt (which he now claims was doctored), in which the President said it had everything to do with the Russia investigation.

So his departure would be unbelievably significant, especially with Trump repeatedly threatening he wants to get rid of Sessions soon too. (And sadly, if the Times story is true, which Rosenstein denies in an interestingly worded statement, Trump really does have to let Rosenstein go.)

Later, the White House clarified, saying no change to Rosenstein’s status for now. And that a meeting with Trump is scheduled on Thursday, because that’s the day he returns to D.C. Of course that’s also the day of the Kavanaugh and Ford hearings on Capitol Hill. What a coincidence!

 

Will he last the week?