The most revealing moment from the newly leaked Trump tape

| 7:30 pm EST January 25, 2020
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Donald Trump’s instantly infamous “take her out” recording has now been published in full by multiple major news outlets. Remarkably, it turns out to be a video recording, and not merely an audio recording – although the video camera appeared to be pointed at the ceiling most of the time, presumably to make sure Trump didn’t know he was being recorded. One of those moments arguably stands out even more strikingly than the “take her out” moment.

Lev Parnas told Donald Trump that U.S. Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch had been running around telling people that Trump was going to be impeached. Trump then laughed incredulously, as if Yovanovitch were saying something that was ridiculous and impossible. Then Trump started telling his people to “take her out.” Keep in mind that this recording was made in April 2018. Trump clearly didn’t think it was possible back then that he was going to end up getting impeached.

This was just seven months before the 2018 midterm elections. By that time it was clear to anyone paying close attention that the Democrats were likely to win the House, Nancy Pelosi was likely to become Speaker, and although she’s not a fan of impeachment, she’d end up impeaching him as his criminal antics threatened to grow more severe. Yet Trump’s dismissive laugh at the idea of impeachment seemed genuine, even for a guy who almost never comes across as genuine.

The point is this: Donald Trump had no idea what was about to hit him. He was laughing at the notion of getting impeached, as if it were literally impossible, and Yovanovitch was a delusional joke just for thinking it would happen. Seven months later, Trump lost the midterms. Twenty months later, he’s been impeached. It’s a reminder that Trump is completely out of touch with the political landscape, and generally clueless about what’s coming next. There’s no strategy with this guy. Trump lives in a protective political bubble where his handlers try to make him think he’s riding high, even when it’s all crashing down on him.