As President Donald Trump explores ways to sabotage the November election, never Trumper Republican Tom Nichols warned that Attorney General Bill Barr is more of a threat to the 2020 presidential contest than Trump himself.
Nichols’ warning came during an MSNBC panel discussion about a recent bipartisan war game of the election, in which all the scenarios found the law “almost helpless” against Trump should he decide to ignore it,.
Host Jonathan Capehart started off by saying that Trump is probably afraid of leaving office for fear of being charged with federal crimes.
Nichols agreed. “I think he’s probably researching how to pardon himself forever and in perpetuity,” he said.
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He also said there are others who want to keep Trump in power by any means necessary:
“You know, you have two separate groups here that have an interest in destroying the election. Trump is about Trump. I don’t think Trump ever wanted to be elected president. But once he was in, he was stuck and now he wants to ride that rocket all the way down to destruction.
But there’s also a group of Republicans and conservatives around him. They’re like remoras stuck to the belly of this dying, thrashing shark. They think that keeping Trump in power by any means necessary is kind of their last-ditch effort to save western civilization, to pack the courts … to try to keep moving forward with voter suppression so that they can enable minority rule for years to come.”
As horribly depressing and frightening as that is, Nichols also predicted “a lot of that” will backfire. The fact that Sen. Mitch McConnell is telling Republicans it’s OK to distance themselves from Trump indicates that at least some people will balk, Nichols said.
That’s why, Nichols Warn, the best way to game out election shenanigans is probably by watching Barr and other professionals on Team Trump:
“Here we are, basically, having to game out an election full of chaos and violence because of one man and because of the people around him who have a vested interest in letting him be the agent of that chaos.
And I keep saying, let’s not get too distracted by Trump. Keep your eye on Bill Barr, keep your eye on some of the people around him who are a lot more competent, a lot less emotionally disorderered than he is and who know exactly what they’re doing.”
Watch the video below, via “Crooks And Liars.”
H/T: Crooks And Liars.
