Playbook: How the president sees himself vs. how everyone else sees him
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP views himself as a hero for the black community on par with the likes of ABRAHAM LINCOLN. He says the military loves him. He has suggested that JOE BIDEN is out of touch with reality, & that he will win reelection in less than five months quite easily
THE REST OF THE WORLD sees the situation quite a bit differently:
-- JIM MATTIS became the highest-profile former WH official to say TRUMP is unfit for the office. He spoke to THE ATLANTIC’S editor in chief JEFF GOLDBERG for a stunning piece ab his feelings about his former boss
-- JIM MATTIS became the highest-profile former WH official to say TRUMP is unfit for the office. He spoke to THE ATLANTIC’S editor in chief JEFF GOLDBERG for a stunning piece ab his feelings about his former boss
-- MARK ESPER, the current defense secretary, has split with TRUMP over using troops on American streets. TRUMP has begun asking people if "Esper could still be effective in his position," per Bloomberg's JENNIFER JACOBS.
MARK MILLEY -- the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff -- sent a letter to military brass reminding them that they took “an oath to support and defend the Constitution and the values embedded within it.”
-- FOR A SIXTH STRAIGHT NIGHT, protests filled the streets outside the White House Wednesday night. Though as the Washington Post notes, the crowds dispersed early.
THE PRESIDENT is slipping in the polls in states he won “by wide margins four years ago,” per @alexburnsNYT and @maggieNYT in an NYT story that posted last night. “In private polling conducted by Mr. Trump’s campaign, the president is now well behind Mr. Biden”
— TRUMP IS LOSING to BIDEN in Arizona, 46-42, according to a new FOX NEWS poll. Sen. MARTHA MCSALLY (R-Ariz.) is getting trounced by MARK KELLY, 50-37.
A FEW THINGS TO WATCH FOR TODAY: Republican senators are going to come under enormous pressure to respond to MATTIS, who is one of the most revered military leaders in contemporary times. WATCH FOR how people like Sen. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-S.C.) and Sen. TOM COTTON (R-Ark.) respond
- WE WOULD NOT BE SURPRISED if Senate Majority Leader MITCH MCCONNELL has no “observations,” as he typically says when he doesn’t want to answer questions.
HOW WILL BIDEN take advantage of the MATTIS criticism? He’ll probably bathe him in praise in interviews, and we have to imagine there will be some video of all the military leaders against TRUMP. Remember: Mike Mullen also was out against TRUMP
