President Trump definitely deleted his old tweets about Luther Strange in the wake of the interim senator losing the Alabama Republican runoff to Roy Moore, but Trump’s anger about the candidate he endorsed getting trounced by the candidate Steve Bannon endorsed goes even deeper than huffily (and illegally) deleting presidential records.
According to a CNN report spearheaded by Jim Acosta, Trump watched the primary results (on Fox News, of course) while aboard Air Force One en route to D.C. from a fundraiser, and he absolutely lost it. He’s apparently very upset at being encouraged to support a losing candidate by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who rallied the establishment GOP behind Strange:
Trump, officials and informal advisers say, felt misled by McConnell and his political team, who encouraged him to endorse and campaign for Strange.
He went to bed “embarrassed and pissed” following the election loss, according to a person familiar with his mindset. Trump, multiple sources said, is furious with McConnell, and feels outdone by his former aide Bannon.
According to those same sources, Trump had expressed “misgivings” about endorsing Strange because he felt that Strange was “low energy” and played too much to the GOP establishment. However, Strange was “loyal” to Trump, which ultimately led to the endorsement, but the president’s still lashing out in anger.
Now, people inside the administration are trying to shift the blame around, and it appears that it’s going to stick with Ward Baker, a McConnell ally, and Nick Ayers, Mike Pence’s chief of staff. Surely, this infighting will make waves the next time Trump wants to pass some legislation.
(Via CNN)