As soon as upon a time, President Barack Obama was eviscerated for carrying a tan go well with. Are you able to think about how way more apoplectic Republicans would have been if Obama refused to take his every day intelligence briefing? Susan Rice, former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and a former Nationwide Safety Advisor underneath Obama, actually can.
Rice was incredulous in relaying that Trump has repeatedly mentioned “nah, not at this time,” when his intelligence briefers have come to him to debate secrets and techniques that impression the nation’s safety.
“It’s been lately reported, David, that the president of the US, who’s been in workplace nicely over 100 days now, has solely acquired the presidential every day briefing – crucial, extremely categorized, every day intelligence briefing, some 12 occasions, some 12 days of his 100-plus days in workplace,” Rice mentioned in a current podcast interview with David Frum, one in all former President George W. Bush’s speechwriters. “What’s he doing if he’s not studying the PDB?”
Effectively, let’s see. Trump siccing his Justice Division on regulation companies that when represented or employed individuals he doesn’t like. He’s attempting to bully faculties and universities into dropping variety, fairness and inclusion packages by threatening to grab their federal funding. He’s imposing gigantic tariffs which have spooked the nationwide financial system. He’s patting his protection secretary on the top after the secretary mentioned impending navy assault operations on the unsecured messaging service Sign.
Oh, and he’s taking care of his bag.
It’s at all times the bag with Trump. Qatar provided him a $400 million airplane he desires U.S. taxpayers to pay $1 billion to retrofit so it might function Air Pressure One, and, as an alternative of telling his benefactors that Congress must approve such a present or that taking the aircraft can be shockingly and wildly unethical, he expressed shock that anybody can be shocked that he’d settle for the plane. Which, in fact, he did.
Trump ain’t too proud to beg, and he ain’t received time for no stinkin’ intelligence briefing. Can’t have something get in the way in which of “Fox and Mates.”
“I hate to say this,” Rice mentioned, “however you would say it in regards to the airplane. You could possibly say it about Signalgate. You could possibly say it about so many various issues. But when another president had refused or opted to not obtain the presidential every day briefing from the intelligence neighborhood regularly, it might be an enormous, enormous scandal with large investigations in Congress and big hypothesis that the president will not be enjoying with a full deck. That’s a key a part of the job.”
You imply throwing a swank soiree for crypto bros who’ve put tens of millions into your pocket isn’t the job of the president? You imply taking that briefing and studying whether or not, say, some nefarious group was getting dangerously near attacking the U.S. or one its allies is extra essential than consuming filet mignon with the bros?
Simply think about…think about what Fox Information would’ve seemed and seemed like within the early 2010s if Obama did the identical factor. Heck, if he did half of the stuff Trump will get away with on the every day. That tan go well with response would’ve been nothing as compared.