Donald Trump was due to appear for a 4 PM ET press conference. Instead, Trump shuffled out about 40 minutes late to stumble through a rambling list of items in a tone that would have to go up several notches to reach “sepulchral.” And in the process, he failed to answer the one question directed his way concerning the Ukraine scandal, while spending a lot of time attacking and attempting to discredit the whistleblower.
Trump spent much of his time going through his standard recap of how great the economy has been since he took over, how bad things were before he took office, and how everyone is mean to him. Trump not only blamed Democrats for conducting a “witch hunt,” but went into an extended list of senators and congress members that he claimed had really threatened the Ukraine. Trump also mentioned how that ever nonpartisan judge of things, Lindsey Graham, was impressed at how “nice” he was to the Ukrainian president. He also talked about the “great men,” like Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh, who were so impressed by him.
Trump repeatedly returned to claims about Joe Biden and Hunter Biden, declaring that he would only be transparent if Democrats were also transparent about … a scandal that never happened and has been long debunked. He also claimed that the press had covered up for Biden and was really part of the Democratic Party.
Throughout the appearance Trump appeared to be running at very slow speed, his speech marked by numerous pauses and long, audible sniffs. At points it seemed he might fall asleep in mid-sentence, and at other times he stumbled off onto tangents, such as rehashing the entire 2016 campaign down to complaints about Hillary Clinton not spending enough time in Michigan.
Trump also said that Democratic Reps. Adam Schiff and Jerry Nadler must be “laughing their asses off” about the impeachment. That may not be true, but it’s certain that no Republican would have found anything to smile about.