The scope and scale of Donald Trump’s scandals are amazing. The sitting president is the subject of an ongoing criminal investigation; he’s already been implicated by federal prosecutors in a felony; there’s speculation about the prospect of a criminal indictment once he leaves office; and leading members of Congress have already begun addressing the prospect of an impeachment process.
Trump told Reuters yesterday, however, that he’s not concerned.
“It’s hard to impeach somebody who hasn’t done anything wrong and who’s created the greatest economy in the history of our country,” Trump told Reuters in an Oval Office interview.
“I’m not concerned, no. I think that the people would revolt if that happened,” he said.
It’s the kind of quote that deserves to be unpacked.
“It’s hard to impeach somebody who hasn’t done anything wrong.” At face value, that’s true, though Trump’s alleged misdeeds haven’t yet come into sharp focus. There’s reason to believe the president has done all kinds of things wrong — again, see Friday’s court filing from federal prosecutors in New York — though time will tell what Special Counsel Robert Mueller uncovers.
Trump believes he’s “created the greatest economy in the history of our country.” That’s not even close to being true — an economic historian he is not — and the point suggests Trump may not fully appreciate what impeachment is all about. It’s not, for example, reserved for bad and unaccomplished presidents.
The nation was in the midst of a genuine economic boom in 1998, with job growth that was considerably stronger than anything we’ve seen under Trump, but the Republican-led Congress impeached a Democratic president anyway. Bill Clinton wasn’t in a position to present a “but things are going well” defense.
“I think that the people would revolt if that happened.” The Republican president remains convinced of his broad popularity, but reality tells a very different story. Trump’s national support remains quite weak, with some polls pointing to an approval rating below 40%.
What’s more, a recent Fox News poll found that 43% of Americans are on board with impeaching Trump and removing him from office. If and when Mueller presents more details about the president’s actions, that number may yet climb.
In the same Reuters interview, Trump said of Michael Cohen’s crimes, which he’s already been implicated in, “Number one, [the hush-money payoff] wasn’t a campaign contribution. If it were, it’s only civil, and even if it’s only civil, there was no violation based on what we did. OK?”
No, not OK. For one thing, the hush-money payoff was almost certainly related to the campaign, at least according to the U.S. Attorney’s office in New York.
For another, felonious violations of campaign-finance laws are not “civil” matters.
Either Trump doesn’t understand what he’s up against, or he’s just lying his way through the crisis.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."