A relatively quick, blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moment occurred on Sunday morning when retired Lieutenant General Michael Flynn appeared on Meet the Press. The segment surrounded the Gennifer Flowers mess, which Kellyann Conway and Mike Pence tried to mop up with denials that Flowers would attend the Monday debate between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump.
When Chuck Todd spoke with the Trump adviser — who was reportedly a pain in the butt during a recent intelligence briefing — these denials had not yet surfaced. Todd grilled the Flynn on what he knew of the subject, and Flynn replied, “I would just go with what you have seen. And we’ll wait to see what happens tomorrow night.” This could be taken to mean that Flynn had no clue whether Trump’s tweet-threat (and fallout) spoke to the truth.
What did Flynn think the possibility of a former Bill Clinton mistress to sitting next to Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban at the debate? The Trump adviser wasn’t thrilled about Cuban’s inclusion: “I mean, he’s not a legitimate person. Why is he invited?” Hopefully, Flynn didn’t mean that Cuban isn’t a person (or perhaps he did). It sounded like a slip-up, as in, “What does Mark Cuban have to do with politics?” But Flynn went on to state, “I would leave this tit for tat” before stressing that there are more important arguments to be had. So, he’s sort of acknowledging that both sides are engaging in ugly tactics while also tossing out a legitimate-person insult. It’s not the best look.
We’ve since learned that Flowers will not be in attendance, and she and Trump were both just messing around on Twitter. But Cuban was indeed invited by the Clinton campaign and will try to act as Trump’s grim spectre in the front row. This election only grows more bizarre as time wears forth.
