We here at AP often face a formidable challenge in the Trump Era.
Why? ‘Cause we have so much material.
The obese 73-year old with lots of golf courses and resorts used to have a TV show called The Apprentice. The man’s a performer, and if he’s not near a camera, he yells and pouts until someone brings a camera close to the thing on his head.
The GOP has a seeming death grip on the Senate under Moscow Mitch, but that’s going to change in November, especially when the Bluegrass State’s Amy McGrath whips Mitch’s butt;
And
When Montana’s Democratic Governor, Steve Bullock, defeats McConnell’s ally, Steve Daines;
And
When Maine’s Sara Gideon defeats Susan Collins;
And
When South Carolina’s Jaime Harrison defeats bigtime Trump ally Lindsay Graham;
And
When Astronaut Mark Kelly defeats Arizona’s Republican senator, Martha McSally (associate solitary reporter John Mangan, the Executive Director of the Arizona Dental Association, is Kelly’s Campaign Manager);
And
When North Carolina’s Cal Cunningham defeats Thom Tillis;
And
When Democrat ANDREW ROMANOFF defeats Colorado’s junior senator, Cory Gardner;
And
When Alabama’s Democratic (!) Senator, Doug Jones, keeps his seat.
Donald Trump wouldn’t be able to get any legislation through the Senate without Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, and McConnell is ever so much smarter in politics than Trump could ever hope to be.
Powerful politicians are constantly followed by reporters, especially when something really big goes down as, for example, when Trump and his lawyer, Attorney General William Barr, ordered Lafayette Square to be cleared of protesters so Trump could prey on his base by standing in front of historic, partially burned St. John’s Episcopal Church just off Lafayette Square, where he adamantly refused to pray.
Moscow Mitch used the significant word, “performance,” when asked by journalists about Trump’s photo-op stunt in front of St. John’s while holding a Bible: McConnell said “I’m not going to critique other people’s performances” (https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/02/politics/trump-republican-response-protests-mitch-mcconnell/index.html).
Then, when our Chief Legislative Correspondent, associate solitary reporter Melissa Smith, asked McConnell if he intended his comment about performances as a dig at Trump, Mitch immediately said, “Melissa, you’re a smart woman, I’ll just let you draw your own conclusions."
In other news, Defense Secretary Mark Esper’s on the ropes after he refused to follow the Party Line about soldiers on our streets (https://www.politico.com/news/2020/06/04/esper-white-house-replacement-302174), so Smith just texted us to say that young, brash Arkansas senator Tom Cotton has the nod once Trump fires Esper (see https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/04/opinions/tom-cotton-wrong-on-troops-bergen/index.html).