With the midterm election now just five days away and polls suggesting that the projected “blue wave” that will indeed vault Democrats into control of the House of Representatives, President Donald Trump’s is said to be “grim,” with some aides suggesting Trump is “self-destructing” according to a report from Gabriel Sherman of Vanity Fair:
“The mood inside the West Wing has darkened. The arrest of Trump supporter Cesar Sayoc for allegedly sending more than a dozen pipe bombs to the president’s political enemies, in addition to a horrific mass shooting at a Pittsburgh synagogue by an avowed white nationalist, completely upended the dynamic.”
Top White House advisers recently suggested that Trump mitigate the possible GOP losses on Election Day by giving a primetime Oval Office address stressing “unity” and national healing:
“Trump, however, shot down the notion and instead is lurching in the other direction: turning out his die-hard base with hard-core anti-media and anti-immigration rhetoric.”
With the outcome of the midterm looking worse for Republicans by the day, staff departures are also the subject of great speculation inside the West Wing. Among those thought to be on the way out after November 6:
- Kellyanne Conway, who currently serves as a counselor to the president.
- Secretary of Defense James Mattis.
- Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.
The Daily Beast notes that Trump is growing increasingly terrified of what will happen if and when Democrats win next Tuesday; fearful of the investigations that will look into his taxes, business dealings, and connections to Russia. One White House aide remarked:
“He’s definitely more spooked than he was before. Several of us are expecting to spend more time [testifying] on the Hill soon.”
Other advisers are predicting the Democrats could win by an ever larger margin than expected as voters seek to punish Trump for his hateful rhetoric in the wake of the bomb scare and synagogue massacre:
“Three sources close to the president say that Trump and his aides are privately far more pessimistic. Recently, the president has stressed in conversations with confidants that if things go south for the GOP in November, he won’t take the blame and is prepared to scapegoat other party leaders. In Trump’s West Wing, words such as ‘slaughter’ and ‘massacre’ have come up among political, policy, and communications advisers in their private predictions of what this month could bring.”
So in the days ahead, it appears we can expect more of the same from this president: More fear, more hatred, more lies, and a steadfast refusal to accept that the American people are no longer willing to tolerate his deeply flawed method of governing.
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