Former Congresswoman Donna Edwards summed it up best when she described Omarosa Manigault-Newman's disclosures during her interview as a 'mixed bag.' Yes, Mrs. Manigault-Newman admits that she was complicit when bearing close witness to many of President Trump's abhorrent statements, but how could she not have already known about Mr. Trump's discriminatory housing practices in New York or his bigoted campaign again the Central Park 5 or his ridiculous birtherism statements against his predecessor.
In a way, Mrs. Manigault-Newman is very much the same as Donald Trump inasmuch as that if a person no longer serves self-interest, that person needs to be taken down. With that said, it's not surprising or shocking to realize or assess that Mr. Trump is a bigot and a misogynist, at the very least in his public statements. This column will leave the label of 'racist' to others, but there's no doubt Mr. Trump uses race to divide this country and never defends minorities... Oh Hell with it, he's racist.
At every opportunity to do the right thing on race relations in this country, Mr. Trump goes the other way, and ultimately he fails us all. In a tweet, not a statement but a tweet, Mr. Trump condemned all types of racism. All types? What does that even mean when white supremacists will be demonstrating across the street from The White House TODAY in Lafayette Park? The New York Times' David Brooks called the tweet 'distancing,' which can be interpreted as saying enough to cover yourself but really in effect saying nothing at all. However, if the recording of Mr. Trump using the 'n' word exists and comes out, especially in October, as Mrs. Manigault-Newman contends, there's really going to be a political explosion in this country, and rightfully so.
In the meantime, in terms of Mrs. Manigault-Newman's book causing her 'awakening' to the ways of Trump, one could say there is some truth to that, but in terms of her charges to the president's character, there's truth to that as well. Former North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory (R) of bathroom legislation fame did not find Mrs. Manigault-Newman credible at all and stated that recording conversations was highly unethical. That's as far as he could go given the obviously distasteful statements and non-statements by Mr. Trump. The rest of the panel did push back on him a bit arguing that that deceptive act is the product of a deceptive culture in The White House. Also, NBC's Kristen Welker who covers the White House every day said that her descriptions of the goings-on were very familiar. What can not be disputed as evidenced by the recording we heard today of her firing by Chief of Staff John Kelly and by the Non-Disclosure Agreement is that this is an administration that bullies and shows no hesitation to harass legally or otherwise if you cross it. As for General Kelly, his credibility and legacy takes a hit every day he remains on the job. Mrs. Manigault-Newman cited that Mr. Kelly did refer to multiple domestic abuser Rob Porter, former the White House secretary, as a man of great integrity.
We know the true colors of this president and his administration, but
it's the darker shades in between those colors that are even more
troubling.
Conversely, there is Ohio Governor John Kasich (R-OH) who could indeed win over independents and conservative Democrats if he were to run for president; however, he would have trouble getting the nomination in the Republican party because of the base, which is solidly off the reservation of reality in its unquestioned support of Donald Trump. Make no mistake, Gov. Kasich espouses some seriously conservative policies but after not even two years of Trump, people want to hear a message of lifting other people up, bringing them together and being for something instead of constantly instilling fear.
What was disappointing is that Gov. Kasich's experience, which Chuck Todd noted, is used against him. Honestly, this is just plain stupid. Having experience in governing should be required, not a disqualifying attribute. Again, this is a product of the Republican base.
Panel: Kristen Welker, NBC; Donna Edwards (D-MD), former Congresswoman; Pat McCrory (R-NC), former Governor; David Brooks, The New York Times
One more thing...
Democrats have to run away from Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) because she is so demonized by Republicans and the right writ large. But here's the reality... The reason she is so demonized is because she's such a strong leader for Democrats and was a better Speaker of the House than Paul Ryan or John Boehner could have ever have hoped to have been. She would get the caucus behind her and get the votes unlike the chaos you see in the Republican-runned House right now. And as Donna Edwards noted, she has raised $90 million for Democrats this election cycle. This column gets it, conservative Democrats are leery of Mrs. Pelosi because of her progressive agenda, which she should make no apologies for just as hard right conservatives like Mark Meadows (R-NC) would make no apologies for his. But make no mistake, it's Mrs. Pelosi's effectiveness that Republican politicians really fear, and it would be a glaring omission if we didn't say that, let's face it, our society has been much more complicit when it comes to tearing down female political leaders, which is a disgrace. Yet, Donald Trump goes there all the time, without hesitation.
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