Donald Trump is pouting
It’s been nearly twelve hours since the first televised House impeachment hearing began, and several hours since it wrapped up for the day, and Donald Trump still hasn’t said anything about it. Maybe that’s because, before the whole thing started, he insisted that he wasn’t going to watch it, because – ahem – he had other things to do.
No one believes that Donald Trump didn’t actually watch the hearings, of course. He’s far too narcissistic not to watch his own impeachment hearings, whether they be good or bad for him. And he’s far too insecure to go do ‘other things’ while two respected State Department veterans spelled out his crimes for all to hear. Also, Trump doesn’t do ‘other things.’ This is a guy who spends most of his time watching Fox News, and even Fox News was covering the impeachment hearing today, so it’s not as if he could avoid it.
That means Donald Trump watched his own impeachment today, and he has absolutely nothing to say about it. If he thought it went well for him, he’d be crowing about it on Twitter. If he thought it wasn’t quite going his way, he’d be whining about it on Twitter. Based on how he tends to handle these kinds of things, it’s fair to interpret his silence as a form of pouting.
Donald Trump has no idea how to respond to what he just watched, or he’s afraid to come out swinging in the ways he’d like to. After all, these two witnesses were absolutely stellar today, with no obvious vulnerabilities to attack them for. What’s he going to do, attack George Kent’s bowtie? Besides, most people liked the bowtie. Maybe Trump will explode in a ball of rage later tonight. But for now, he’s pouting.
Bill Palmer is the publisher of the political news outlet Palmer Report