Children Behave, Part II

On Sunday, American conservative political commentator, Tomi Lahren, criticized the President by saying, “Trump allowed Pelosi to walk all over him.” Lahren is also a television host who frequently criticizes “liberal” politics. Last week, I mentioned the tweet by right wing journalist Ann Coulter: “Good news for George Herbert Walker Bush: As of today, he is no longer the biggest wimp ever to serve as President of the United States.”

The love affair binding Trump to right-wing media and conservative commentators has entered its roughest patch. In a Wall Street Journal interview, Trump hit back at Ann Coulter. “I hear she’s become very hostile,” Trump said. “Maybe I didn’t return her phone call or something.” The President has even attacked reporters from Fox News, his news channel of choice, saying on Twitter that they had displayed “even less understanding of the Wall negotiations than the folks at FAKE NEWS CNN & NBC!”

The swipes make it clear that a divided Congress has put Trump in a dangerous and defensive political position. He depends on positive punditry and other forms of approval. They signal his sensitivity to criticism, particularly from people he has identified as friends. Crucially, his presidency relies in part on the right-wing media for the spin the Oval Office needs as validation. If cornered though, Trump lashes out.

The Republicans have started to eat their own. Probably, the President will face many more adverse comments from people he thought were friends and supporters. Indeed, there is little the Democrats need to say. Whether the politicians will try to find some common ground before 15^th February and another shutdown is a different question.

I have to wonder about the thinking of these right wing Republicans who are lambasting their leader. They didn’t suffer during the shutdown unless they had a delayed flight. They were not amongst the 800,000 federal workers who went without pay. They were not federal pensioners denied funds because workers who process such payments were absent. They were not in receipt of government food stamps because they get their three square meals a day. They are wealthy so they don’t have to borrow to pay bills whilst the government remains shut. Yet their minds do not turn to the people who suffer real hardships when politicians clash heads.

You can tell me I am getting emotional. At heart, I distrust ideological politicians like Trump. Give me pragmatists like FDR and Clinton any time. FDR experimented to take America out of recession. If a policy didn’t work, he scrapped it. His focus was on getting the man of the house back to work. Clinton shut the government down only because he would not let Republicans ride roughshod as they sought to reduce benefits for children and the poorest Americans.

I cannot predict how this Wall battle will end. Some estimates show the shutdown has cost over $6bn to the economy, more than Trump’s budget demand for the Wall. This is what happens when ideology trumps pragmatism. I fear Pelosi. Emboldened by one Trump cave-in triumph, she may want another clean win. I hope the House Speaker, and colleagues on both sides of the aisle, will factor in the problems of federal workers, pensioners and the poor before they shut the government down again.

PS. In Sunday’s blog, I wrongly stated that Dominic Grieve was a knight. Apologies.