Amusing tactical move, reminding us what a dope Pence was at the Olympics and making an oblique rather than a direct criticism, reflecting the nuances of the recent visits of the South Korean leader to the US and the DPRK leadership to China. How Trump defends Pence will be interesting in the next round. Will the Dotard discipline the Dummy and will we see the limits of Mike’s slavish sycophancy.
In its most direct language aimed at Washington following a recent rapprochement between the two countries, Choe Son Hui, the North’s vice minister of foreign affairs, said if the June 12 talks were called off, the U.S. could instead face off with North Korea in a “nuclear-to-nuclear showdown.”
Ms. Choe’s statement, issued through official state media, called out Vice President Mike Pence, who she referred to as “a political dummy.”
Ms. Choe, in her statement Thursday, took issue with Mr. Pence’s interview with Fox News earlier this week in which he suggested that the North sought the summit meeting with Mr. Trump. Ms. Choe also criticized the vice president for bringing up Libya in the context of denuclearization—a sensitive subject for the North, which notes that Moammar Gadhafi was overthrown and killed after giving up his nuclear weapons.
Mr. Pence said the Libya model would only be pursued if North Korea failed to denuclearize.
“As a person involved in the U.S. affairs, I cannot suppress my surprise at such ignorant and stupid remarks gushing out from the mouth of the U.S. vice president,” she said.
On the home front the irony of accusing the same person Tumpists considered for the Chinese ambassadorship of being a “spy” in the #TrumpRussia matter will become more evident on Thursday.
There is a key difference, however, in all the lying about the Russia investigation. These conspiracy theories are defensive. Most conservative pundits will describe the Russia investigation as a threat to the very fabric of American government; they recognize the extreme danger it poses to Trump’s presidency. Trump himself has no discernible legal strategy. Instead, he’s fighting a public relations campaign and casting himself as the victim of a “witch hunt.”
These attacks on the legitimacy of the investigation are the only weapon they have against it. And as the investigation exposes Trump to more and more legal and political peril, the conspiratorial attacks on the Justice Department and the Obama administration become more strident. Trump used to be content to vent on Twitter about the Russia investigation, but now he’s using the weight of his office to give life to an evidence-free accusation of political persecution.
Trump relies on the conservative media’s unthinking support as he wages this increasingly unhinged campaign. He needs to hear the hosts of Fox & Friends chirp every morning about how each new phony “bombshell” about the Russia investigation vindicates him. He needs to chat with Sean Hannity every night before bedtime about how Robert Mueller is out to get him. But Trump is only going to get more frustrated as each increasingly elaborate falsehood fails to produce the desired outcome, and that means the coordinated lying and conspiracy-mongering are only going to get worse as the investigation moves forward.
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