Trump's Argle-Bargle Codswallop on Taping Comey

We know that Donald Trump is a reflexive, abundant liar. We know that he mangles the English language every time he opens his maw. We know that he routinely declares himself a genius, even and particularly when he has been exposed as a mendacious fool.

And even knowing these things, his morning interview with Fox & Friends' Ainsley Earhardt is something to behold.

AINSLEY EARHARDT: You wanna explain that? Why did you want [James Comey] to believe that you possibly [recorded conversations]?

DONALD TRUMP: Well, I didn't tape him. You never know what's happening when you see that the Obama administration and perhaps longer than that was doing all of this unmasking and surveillance, and you read all about it, and I've been reading about it for the last couple of months, about the seriousness of the — and horrible situation with surveillance all over the place, and you've been hearing the word unmasking, a word you probably never heard before, so you never know what's out there, but I didn't tape, and I don't have any tape, and I didn't tape, but when he found out that I, you know, that there may be tapes out there, whether it's governmental tapes or anything else, and who knows, I think his story may have changed — I mean, you'll have to take a look at that, because then he has to tell what actually took place at the events, and my story didn't change; my story was always a straight story; my story was always the truth — but you'll have to determine for yourself whether or not his story changed, but I did not tape.

EARHARDT: It was a smart way to make sure he stayed honest in those hearings.

TRUMP: Well, ahh, it wasn't — it wasn't very stupid, I can tell you that. He was — he did admit that what I said was right, and if you look further back, before he heard about that, I think maybe he wasn't admitting that, so you'll have to do a little investigative reporting to determine that, but I don't think it'll be that hard.
Blink. Blink.

I guess all of that makes about as much sense as Trump crowing about Comey's testimony being a "total and complete vindication."

Now that Trump is feeling all up in his own strategic genius again, he also hinted during the interview that might try to remove Special Counsel Bob Mueller.


So, to recap: Trump asked Comey if he was under investigation, and Comey told him no. Then Trump asked Comey to kill the investigation of Michael Flynn. When Comey wouldn't, Trump fired him, oddly noting in the termination letter that Comey had assured him he wasn't under investigation. Comey was called to testify about all of this, during which he confirmed that Trump hadn't been under investigation while he was FBI Director. Trump declared victory, as Comey had confirmed under oath Trump hadn't been under investigation.

The thing is: Trump is now under investigation for having fired Comey and thus possibly attempting to obstruct justice.

But Trump is all pumped up from the smoke being blown up his ass about how clever it was to trick Comey into telling the truth by lying about recording him, so now he's threatening to maybe oust Bob Mueller, which would double down on the very thing for which he is being investigated.

It's surreal watching all of this unfold. Trump believes he is a mastermind — and his sycophants and supporters agree. The rest of us are looking at these machinations and seeing nothing but a transparent liar and ridiculous fool.

It's like Machiavelli's The Prince Has No Clothes, or something.

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