Donald Trump held what appeared to be an ad hoc press conference in the Rose Garden on Wednesday.
The president was visibly aggravated and appeared to be suffering from a bout of dry mouth.
Earlier in the day, Nancy Pelosi said Democrats believed the White House is involved in a coverup. In remarks to reporters, the most powerful woman in American politics reiterated that Democrats do not intend to sit idly by as the country descends further in authoritarianism.
Although Pelosi has generally cautioned Democrats that pushing for impeachment is fraught with peril ahead of 2020, the White House’s refusal to comply with congressional subpoenas and the Justice Department’s facially suspicious efforts to guard the unredacted Mueller report and the underlying evidence, have rankled even some GOP lawmakers. Over the weekend, Republican Justin Amash came out in favor of impeachment. “He’s a loser”, Trump said of Amash.
In off-the-cuff remarks in the Rose Garden on Wednesday, Trump suggested that a bipartisan infrastructure push is off the table for now. The president was irked by Pelosi’s comments.
“I walked into the room and I told Schumer and Pelosi, ‘I want to do infrastructure and I’d be really good at it. But we can’t do it under these circumstances'”, Trump said, recounting his version of events.
During his remarks, Trump made the laughable claim that he is “the most transparent president in history”, which is about like Ronald McDonald saying he’s “probably the biggest advocate for healthy eating the world’s ever seen.”
Somehow, Trump managed to immediately say something even more ridiculous. “I don’t do coverups”, he declared, before pointing at the very same reporters who have spent two years detailing his coverups and claiming they “know that better than anybody.”
Next, Trump chided Democrats and the media for putting “my son Don through hell.”
As far as whether he feels secure in his current occupation, Trump says he “can’t imagine” that anyone is going “bring the big ‘I’ word out”. He then contradicted himself in the same sentence. “They probably would”, he lamented, an apparent reference to Democrats’ last resort if the administration continues to stonewall congressional oversight efforts.
The most memorable moment was, without a doubt, Trump’s response to a question (he took only two) about whether Pelosi gave him any assurances that the House won’t pursue impeachment. According to the president, he is the victim of “the greatest hoax in history”.
Affixed to the front of Trump’s lectern was a piece of poster board. On the right were statistics from the Mueller investigation. On the left were two phrases: “NO collusion” and “NO obstruction.”
The level of delusion in Trump’s remarks today is Spinal Tapian — 11 on a scale of 10.