There's no way to overstate what a show of desperation took place in the Rose Garden Monday afternoon during a joint press conference between Donald Trump and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.
For his part, Trump touted how many tremendous successes he's had—including an "A+" rating from a former Clinton administration official on the administration's response to hurricane relief. But after bragging about his work on judicial nominations—which he boasted "will set records" then moments later said Democrats were "holding up beyond comprehension" (yes, one second, Trump was having tremendous success and, the next second, Democrats were blocking him at every turn)—Trump managed to finally say what they were really there for.
"Just so you understand, the Republican party is very very unified," he said, pointing the finger at Democrats for the GOP majority’s every failure. "When we get things approved, we have to go through hell because we have no Democrat support."
Oh, so perhaps Trump hasn't had quite as much success as he claimed, just a whole lot of “hell.” Anyway, after Trump was predictably all over the place—Puerto Rico, taxes, health care, Democrats—McConnell stepped to the mic to whittle Trump’s blunt instrument into a fine point.
"I think what the president and I would both like to say to you today, contrary to what some of you may have reported, we are together totally on this agenda to move America forward."
Okay, so Trump and McConnell are in it together today. It's only a matter of time, folks.
McConnell also conveniently made sure to tag Trump's appointment of Justice Neil Gorsuch as "the single most significant thing this president has done to change America." In other words, forget all our failures, Trump's most important accomplishment is also the ONE thing we in the Senate have managed to do. He’s not wrong, in many ways. But touting your only major accomplishment as the most important accomplishment is like declaring that mud is mud.
Asked about Bannon's electoral crusade to dethrone McConnell and unseat other establishment Republicans, Trump said: "I like Steve a lot. Steve is doing what Steve thinks is the right thing. Some of the people that he may be looking at, I'm going to see, if we can talk him out of that, because frankly, they are great people."
Again, we'll see. If the GOP fails to deliver on taxes, all bets are off. Guaranteed, Trump will get in front of some rabidly pro-Trump crowd and tear Congressional Republicans limb from limb, whatever it takes to get the applause he’s so hungry for.
In terms of hard commitments, there were none. Both Trump and McConnell said "the goal" was to get taxes done "this calendar year."
But both Trump and McConnell made sure to play down expectations, reminding reporters that it took Ronald Reagan "years" to get tax reform done in 1986.
"I have been here for nine months," Trump said, reassuring himself that he's not a total failure. The same went for excuses on their health care repeal debacle.
"It is important to remember that Obama signed Obamacare in March of year two. Obama signed Dodd-Frank in July of year two," McConnell said, trying to compare the GOP’s work product favorably to Democrats' accomplishments in 2009-2010.
Just to be clear, Harry Reid never put up a failed vote on health care in the Senate and neither did Nancy Pelosi in the House. They did their homework, painstakingly counted votes, and held their caucuses together even on very tough votes. McConnell's comparison is laughable.
In the meantime, Obama and Democrats DID get some major wins through in 2009, including the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, an expansion of the Children's Health Insurance Program to states (SCHIP), and the historic $800 billion stimulus plan.
Trump rambled on about a million things at that press conference—he couldn’t get enough of reporters’ attention—but the main point was to assure everyone that Trump and Senate Republicans are working hand in glove.
Trump also promised to flush his cell phone down the toilet and never speak another negative word about others ... LOL. Yeah, right. Perhaps McConnell bought himself a night’s worth of sleep. Enjoy.