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The 'I'm rubber, you're glue' presidency: Trump turns to schoolyard taunts in impeachment battle
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/the-im-rubber-youre-glue-presidency-trump-turns-to-schoolyard-taunts-in-impeachment-battle/2019/10/09/a609ba8c-eaab-11e9-85c0-85a098e47b37_story.html
By Ashley Parker
Oct. 9, 2019 at 6:18 p.m. EDT
After House Democrats launched an impeachment inquiry into President Trump, the Oval Office occupant countered with a creative offer of his own: Impeach me? No, impeach you!
And so it was that Trump suggested, in a series of tweets, that perhaps the two California Democrats leading the effort against him — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Rep. Adam B. Schiff, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee — should be impeached instead.
“Must all be immediately Impeached!” wrote Trump, who, in a separate missive, also debuted an “#IMPEACHMITTROMNEY” hashtag, after Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) criticized him for calling on both Ukraine and China to investigate a political rival.
Left unsaid was the pesky fact for the president that lawmakers cannot, in fact, be impeached. But the schoolyard taunt offered another window into Trump’s “I’m rubber, you’re glue” approach to the impeachment inquiry now consuming his administration.
Though the White House has yet to launch an official war room to fight the Democratic investigation, it is putting forth something of a one-man platoon in the form of the president himself — in the role of playground bully, wielding his shamelessness like a weaponized rubber kickball, ready to pummel into the mud anyone who dares to level a charge against him.
The tactic epitomizes Trump’s “I know you are but what am I?” presidency, a long-held strategy in which Trump turns an accusation back forcefully on his accuser, regardless of how outlandish or fallacious the countercharge may be.
“Trump’s approach to turning his opponents’ attacks back on them is part branding, part trolling and part relentless, disciplined messaging,” said Cliff Sims, a former White House aide and author of “Team of Vipers,” about his time working in the Trump administration. “It’s proven to be extraordinarily effective. But it’s not even replicable because no one else is audacious enough to pull it off.”
</snip>
By Ashley Parker
Oct. 9, 2019 at 6:18 p.m. EDT
After House Democrats launched an impeachment inquiry into President Trump, the Oval Office occupant countered with a creative offer of his own: Impeach me? No, impeach you!
And so it was that Trump suggested, in a series of tweets, that perhaps the two California Democrats leading the effort against him — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Rep. Adam B. Schiff, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee — should be impeached instead.
“Must all be immediately Impeached!” wrote Trump, who, in a separate missive, also debuted an “#IMPEACHMITTROMNEY” hashtag, after Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) criticized him for calling on both Ukraine and China to investigate a political rival.
Left unsaid was the pesky fact for the president that lawmakers cannot, in fact, be impeached. But the schoolyard taunt offered another window into Trump’s “I’m rubber, you’re glue” approach to the impeachment inquiry now consuming his administration.
Though the White House has yet to launch an official war room to fight the Democratic investigation, it is putting forth something of a one-man platoon in the form of the president himself — in the role of playground bully, wielding his shamelessness like a weaponized rubber kickball, ready to pummel into the mud anyone who dares to level a charge against him.
The tactic epitomizes Trump’s “I know you are but what am I?” presidency, a long-held strategy in which Trump turns an accusation back forcefully on his accuser, regardless of how outlandish or fallacious the countercharge may be.
“Trump’s approach to turning his opponents’ attacks back on them is part branding, part trolling and part relentless, disciplined messaging,” said Cliff Sims, a former White House aide and author of “Team of Vipers,” about his time working in the Trump administration. “It’s proven to be extraordinarily effective. But it’s not even replicable because no one else is audacious enough to pull it off.”
</snip>
Good read by Ashley Parker!
7 replies
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= new reply since forum marked as read
I'm glad it works either way! 
