Donald Trump just tipped off how afraid he is of what’s coming next
It’s one thing to corruptly threaten people in private. It might or might not work, but so long as they don’t go public about it, you’re not taking a huge risk. But what if you start seeing signs that your threats might not end up working, and you really need them to work? That’s when you get desperate, and you do something as panicky and foolish as what Donald Trump and his team just did.
Last night CBS News reported that before the Senate impeachment trial began, Donald Trump privately issued this threat to Republican Senators: “vote against the president and your head will be on a pike.” It’s not surprising that this threat was made. What does stand out is that, three days into the trial, this threat is now being leaked to the media. So did one of the Senate Republicans leak it out of resentment? As it turns out, no.
CBS says that the threat was leaked by a “confidant” of Donald Trump. This means that Trump and his own people are now taking the risk of letting it be publicly known that Republican Senators are under threat of retaliation if they dare to go against him in his impeachment trial. This is terrible optics for Trump. It makes him look guilty. It hands the media an obvious soundbite for pointing out how guilty he is. And it runs the risk that a few of the Republican Senators – some of whom have rather large egos – could end up feeling sufficiently humiliated by this leak that they decide to go against Trump out of spite.
To be clear, there is no expectation of any kind right now that any Republican Senator might vote to convict and remove Donald Trump. Instead, Trump must fear that the most nervous of Republican Senators are going to decide to cover their own backsides by voting to call witnesses like John Bolton. That vote is set for late next week. Trump must be afraid of what’s coming next, or he wouldn’t be taking the gamble of such a risky leak.
