Donald Trump made a stupid political bet Wednesday morning premised on the fantasy that Americans who live in the heartland are sitting on their sofas thinking, "Ya know what I'm really worried about? Transgender folks in the military."
These are the same folks who could give a rip about Russia because they can't figure out how it's relevant to their lives. But sure, transgender issues, that's obviously top on their radar, as one member of Team Trump said of the newly announced ban on transgender service:
This forces Democrats in Rust Belt states like Ohio, Michigan, and Wisconsin to take complete ownership of this issue. How will blue collar voters in these states respond when senators up for reelection in 2018 like Debbie Stabenow are forced to make their opposition to this a key plank of their campaigns?
These are the musings of people in an administration that is literally flailing in the wind as their blowhard in chief grasps at straws to save face. Let's just say Democrats aren't exactly shaking in their shoes. Ohio Rep. Tim Ryan wasted no time issuing a scathing rebuke of Trump's new pronouncement, saying he was "disgusted" by the "discriminatory decision" that "arbitrarily reduces our pool of applicants."
New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand practically jumped at the chance to introduce legislation that would overturn any such ban on transgender service.
Even conservative GOP stalwarts like Iowa's Joni Ernst, Utah's Orrin Hatch, and Arizona's John McCain rejected the misguided edict, which led to a great question:
In the meantime, Democratic operatives who will actually be steering the overall strategy of the Democratic Party said, "Bring it!" Washington Post's Greg Sargent writes:
Guy Cecil, the head of Priorities USA, the Super PAC that is staking out a central role in opposing Trump for Democrats, told me:
“The comments only serve to reveal how morally repugnant this administration really is by playing politics with our country’s defenses and attacking fellow Americans who honorably serve to protect our freedom. It also reveals a fundamental misunderstanding of how Senate campaigns work. If this is their approach, than 2018 will definitely be a banner year for Democrats.”
Meredith Kelly, a spokesperson for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, emailed me:
“President Trump’s attack on Americans who want to step up and make incredible sacrifice to serve our country is disgusting, and it’s made worse by the political calculation behind it. Every Republican should speak out against it. President Trump is a draft dodger and if he wants to talk about 2018, we’ve got dozens of veteran candidates who have already shown what it looks like to step up and serve our country to keep us safe, and are ready to do it again in Congress.”
In short: nice try, Trump.