Many Mormons Abhor Trump's Immoral Character-- But Not In The Voting Booth, At Least Not In Utah

Kristian Right by Nancy Ohanian

Like virtually all of America, Utah voted for FDR all 4 times he ran. In fact, in the first reelection bid, Utah's 4 electoral votes went to Roosevelt with 69.34% of the vote in the Beehive State. In 1948, Utah's bonds with the Democratic Party were still strong and Truman beat Dewey 54-45%. Then the GOP lucked out. They ran Eisenhower and Utah was never blue again-- except once (kind of). In 1964, like almost all of America outside the worst of the Confederacy, voters were revolted by the right-wing extremism of Barry Goldwater (moderate by today's standards of Republicanism) and Utah voted for LBJ 55-45%. But that was it; Utah became one of the GOP's main bastions after that and Democrats haven't been able to catch a break there since:

• Hubert Humphrey- 37.07%
• George McGovern- 26.39%
• Jimmy Carter- 33.65%
• Jimmy Carter- 20.57%
• Walter Mondale- 24.68%
• Michael Dukakis- 32.05%
• Bill Clinton- 24.65%
• Bill Clinton- 33.30%
• Al Gore- 26.34%
• John Kerry- 26.00%
• Barack Obama- 34.41%
• Barack Obama- 24.75%
• Hillary Clinton- 27.17%

The entire state government is run by Republicans. The last time a Democrat won a gubernatorial race there was in 1980 and the last time a Democrat won a Senate seat was when Frank Moss was reelected in 1970. (Moss was defeated by Orrin Hatch in 1976.) The state Senate consists of 23 Republicans and 6 Democrats and the state House has 59 Republicans and 16 Democrats.




Could November bring a partisan sea-change for Utah? Probably not, but Lee Davidson's column in the Salt Lake Tribune-- Latter-day Saints laud Joe Biden at national event, say he reflects their values better than Trump-- gives one something to think about.

Dr. Robert Taber, co-chairman of LDS Democrats, said Democrats in the church will likely hear “a lot this election from supporters of the Republican president about tradition and how that means we, as Latter-day Saints, must support him,” as most members have voted Republican for decades.

But he said church tradition also includes those members who flooded the airport in Salt Lake City a few years ago to protest Trump’s ban on immigration from Muslim countries, and more recently members who marched for “school safety, fairness for women, and Black lives.” He said it also includes former Arizona GOP Sen. Jeff Flake, who announced he will vote for Biden.

Scott Howell, the former minority leader of the Utah House, said he is often asked how he can be a church member and a liberal. So he quoted writings from the late church apostle John A. Widtsoe.

The apostle defined a liberal as “a crusader for the betterment of human race,’ and wrote in a church magazine that “members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints do not need to look elsewhere for a more liberal church than ours.”

Howell added, “I am here to tell you that our country needs Joe Biden and we need to stand tall in our wards [congregations] and our stakes [clusters of congregations] and in our community and not be afraid to be LDS and be a Biden supporter.”

Howell also told stories from the 30 years that he has known Biden, including how he reacted-- according to reports of church leaders-- when they presented his genealogy to him in a private meeting when he visited Salt Lake City and the Huntsman Cancer Institute a few years ago.

“Joe opened up the book,” Howell said. ”He began to cry. He said his entire life he wanted to know about his [ancestors]. He tried to find out about these good men and women. And that’s the character of Joe Biden.”

He added, “He’s religious. He’s Catholic. He’s dedicated to it.”

Several participants ticked off lists of policies where they say Biden may be closer to Latter-day Saint beliefs than Trump.

Roberts said the election “gives us the chance to move forward on women’s rights, pay equality and reasonable day care for working parents. It gives us the right to move forward for good, decent, affordable housing for all and to adjust an inhumane immigration system where we no longer keep children in cages.”

Babies In Cages by Nancy Ohanian

“Immigration and refugees align greatly with what our church has focused their efforts on,” said LDS Democrats-Idaho Chairman Jordan Morales.

Josh Dickson, national faith engagement director for the Biden-Harris campaign, said Biden shares many values held by Latter-day Saints, and has been working to reach out to members.

“We believe that Latter-day Saints see strong contrast between the Biden-Harris family-first opportunity focus agenda and President Trump’s continued attempts to separate children from their parents, put kids in cages, abuse his power, deny refuge to the stranger and normalize racism and incivility.”

The Democratic event came after the unveiling in recent days of a Republican group called, “Latter-day Saints for Trump,” led by former Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah. That group attracted attacks on social media for using a picture of the faith’s Salt Lake Temple as the background for pictures of its board members. The church declined comment on whether that was appropriate.

Howell, the former state senator, also attacked the ad during Saturday’s Democratic event, complaining about its use of “our very sacred temple that is used for healing, not dividing. The temple is a healer. For them to use that and for them to go out and promote that the way they have, it’s just dead wrong.”

Also on Saturday, more than 200 Latter-day Saints signed an op-ed in the Arizona Republic opposing Latter-day Saints for Trump, saying it gives the impression that the church supports a president that signers said is the antithesis of many of its beliefs.

That said, I'd bet on Trump winning Utah without breaking a sweat. The state is too far gone and the coronavirus hasn't hit it hard enough yet to make a difference. There have only been 46,652 cases-- 14,552 cases per Utahan-- and 363 deaths. Unless those numbers triple before the election, not likely, dissatisfaction with Trump's leadership won't be strong enough to move the state away from him.

Time to watch this one again? Sure, it's always time to watch this amazing campaign ad-- and let me just say that one book I would LOVE to read is the Lindsey Graham autobiography, a year or two after he leaves the Senate and politics. So if he is defeated in November and then hired for a job by Biden, then I want to see the book after the Biden job is finished.

We're America-- This Virus Cannot Beat Us... Right?

Reopening by Nancy Ohanian

On Friday, America's most consistent Prophet of Wrong, coke-freak Larry Kudlow, told the Fox & Friends crew that "There is no emergency. There is no second wave. I don’t know where that got started on Wall Street."

Although Kudlow, director of the National Economic Council, acknowledged he is “not the health expert," he said he had spoken with the administration’s top public health officials “at some length” Thursday evening. “They are saying there is no second spike. Let me repeat that. There is no second spike,” he said.

Second Spike by Nancy Ohanian

“What you do have is certain spots are seeing a little bit of a jump up. Some small metropolitan areas are seeing it. The CDC and the health people are all over it. They’ve sent some task forces out to deal with it,” Kudlow added, partly attributing increases in Covid-19 cases to more widespread testing availability.

Kevin Hassett, another top economic adviser to the White House, told Fox News he had spoken to Dr. Deborah Birx, the administration’s coronavirus response coordinator, earlier Wednesday morning, and conceded “there are some embers flaring up in a few places.”

Hassett specifically cited incoming data from Arizona and South Carolina as showing “some cause for concern,” but remained largely dismissive of the notion of a second wave of the coronavirus.

“For sure, the battle is not over,” he said. “But the trends that have been so positive in recent weeks, we’ve not deviated sharply from them-- although there are some hotspots around the country.”

The remarks from the two top aides come as new coronavirus hotspots continue to emerge across the United States, with 18 states reporting an increase in Covid-19 case counts, including spikes in Arizona, Florida and Texas. Additionally, hospitalizations have been rising rapidly in at least nine states since Memorial Day.

As we've been saying, early states like New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Michigan and Connecticut has cut their new daily case loads down dramatically, states that have followed Trumpian advice to pretend there is no pandemic are paying dearly now. With New York at 893 new cases Saturday and New Jersey at 642, some of the worst spiking situations in the country are in states with Trumpist governors:

• Texas +2,012
• Florida +1,902
• Arizona +1,654
• Georgia +810
• Alabama +865

And most of the states with the big increases in cases per million in their populations are also states with Trumpist governors who ignored scientists' warnings and based pandemic response on Trump Regime happy-talk instead:

• Nebraska- 8,536 cases per million
• Iowa- 7,401
• South Dakota- 6,491
• Mississippi- 6,415
• Georgia- 5,254
• Alabama- 4,836
• Arizona- 4,523
• Tennessee- 4,265
• Utah- 4,235
• North Dakota- 3,958
• New Hampshire- 3,862
• Florida- 3,304
• Texas- 2,948

Relatively speaking, neither blue state Oregon (total cases-- 5,377 (1,275 cases per million) nor red state Utah (total cases-- 13,577 (4,235 cases per million) has had a bad first round pandemic and in the last couple of weeks, both started the process of reopening. Unlike much worse off states, both have now paused the reopening process, despite howls of protest from deranged Trumpists.

"This is essentially a statewide ‘yellow light.’ It is time to press pause for one week before any further reopening,” Oregon Gov. Kate Brown (D) said in a statement Thursday evening.

“I will work with doctors and public health experts to determine whether to lift this pause or extend it or make other adjustments,” she added.

...In Utah, Gov. Gary Herbert (R) said during a Thursday night press conference most of the state would remain in the “yellow” phase of the reopening plan for the time being, which allows all businesses to open, including for in-door dining services.

While those measures are generally less restrictive than what other states have done to slow the spread of COVID-19, Herbert pointed out, he added Utah needs to pause further reopening efforts as it investigates the rise in new cases.

Most of the state had already moved past the red and orange phases of reopenings, which had more restrictive measures in place. The state has confirmed more than 13,000 cases since the pandemic began, including 131 deaths.

“I don’t want to go forward and then take a step backward,” Herbert said.

Governors in other states seeing increases in COVID-19 cases-- including Florida and Arizona-- have indicated they will continue with their reopening efforts.

North Carolina has a Democratic governor and a lunatic fringe Republican legislature always looking to infringe on his constitutional prerogatives. The legislators have been opposed to all of his efforts to protect the state and have encouraged their followers to disregard safety measures. On Friday, Newsweek reported that the sate might "re-implement a stay-at-home orders if coronaviruses cases continue to increase, according to the head of the state's health department. 'If we need to go back to stay-at-home [orders], we will,' Department of Health Secretary Mandy Cohen told NPR's Morning Edition. "I hope we don't have to. I think there are things we can do before we have to get there, but yes, we are concerned.' Cohen's comments come as the state is in the second phase of its reopening plan, which began on May 22 after the state lifted its stay-at-home order. But data from the health department show coronavirus cases are on the rise. North Carolina saw its largest increase in cases just a day after the order was lifted, 1,107 on May 23, the health department reported. But this number has since been surpassed on five different occasions. There were over 1,100 newly confirmed cases on May 30, June 4, June 5 and June 11, with a new record number for a single day, 1,370, on June 6.

With Trump threatening to come to North Carolina to hold his campaign hate rallies, Cohen said that "the data and science tells us that mass gatherings are one of the most concerning kinds of activities related to viral spread-- right?-- when lots of people close together can spread this virus. And we have seen that happen here in our state where there have been gatherings that have spread the virus. So right now, we are asking our folks in North Carolina: If you've been to a mass gathering like a protest or going back to church, we want you to get tested. We think that that is exposure. We think that that's a risk. And we want folks to get tested. So am worried about mass gatherings. For us in North Carolina, our rules still are that we do not want to have any mass gatherings. [W]e want to make sure that we are particularly focused on getting people to wear face coverings, wait 6 feet apart and wash their hands. There are individual actions that people can take right now, and I think they're so important. We really need to get our testing up. And then we need to trace folks. And folks need to stay isolated and stay home if they're sick."

Yesterday, in an ominously titled essay-- The Virus Will Win-- for The Atlantic Yascha Mounk addressed the lack of political will tragically being demonstrated by America's bankrupt political elites. Contradicting the clueless Kudlow, he wrote that "A second wave of the coronavirus is on the way. When it arrives, we will lack the will to deal with it. Despite all the sacrifices of the past months, the virus is likely to win-- or perhaps it would be more accurate to say that it already has. In absolute terms, the United States has been hit harder than any other country. About a quarter of worldwide deaths have been recorded on these shores. And while the virus is no longer growing at an exponential rate, the threat it poses remains significant: According to a forecasting model by Morgan Stanley, the number of American cases will, if current trends hold, roughly double over the next two months."

But neither the impact of mass protests over police brutality nor the effect of the recent reopening of much of the country-- including the casinos in Las Vegas-- is reflected in the latest numbers. It can take at least 10 days for people to develop symptoms and seek out a test, and for the results to be aggregated and disseminated by public-health authorities.

Even so, the disease is slowly starting to recede from the public’s attention. After months of dominating media coverage, COVID-19 has largely disappeared from the front pages of most national newspapers. In recent polls, the number of people who favor “reopening the economy as soon as possible” over “staying home as long as necessary” has increased. And so it is perhaps no surprise that even states where the number of new infections stands at an all-time high are pressing ahead with plans to lift many restrictions on businesses and mass gatherings.

When the first wave of COVID-19 was threatening to overwhelm the medical system, back in March, the public’s fear and uncertainty were far more intense than they are now. So was the reason to hope that some magic bullet might rescue us from the worst ravages of the disease.

At this point, such hopes look unrealistic. After months of intense research, an effective treatment for COVID-19 still does not exist. A vaccine is, even if we get lucky, many months away from deployment. Because the virus is spreading especially rapidly in parts of the Southern Hemisphere, from Latin America to Africa, heat is clearly no impediment to its dissemination.

Perhaps most important, it is now difficult to imagine that anybody could muster the political will to impose a full-scale lockdown for a second time. As one poll in Pennsylvania found, nearly nine out of 10 Republicans trusted “the information you hear about coronavirus from medical experts” back in April. Now just about one in three does. With public opinion more polarized than it was a few months ago, and the presidential election looming, any attempt to deal with a resurgence of the virus is likely to be even more haphazard, contentious, and ineffective than it was the first time around.

In the fullness of time, many books will be written about why a country as rich, powerful, and scientifically advanced as the United States failed quite so badly at coping with a public-health emergency that experts had predicted for many years. As is always the case, competing explanations will quickly emerge. Some will focus on the incompetence of the Trump administration, while others will draw attention to the country’s loss of state capacity; some will argue that the United States is an outlier, while others will put its failure in the context of other countries, such as Brazil and Russia, that are also faring poorly.

...If the virus wins, it is because Donald Trump was more interested in hushing up bad news that might hurt the economy than in saving American lives.

If the virus wins, it is because the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, created to deal with just this kind of emergency, has proved to be too bureaucratic and incompetent to do its job.

If the virus wins, it is because the White House did not even attempt to put a test-and-trace regime into place at the federal level.

...If the virus does win, then, it is because American elites, experts, and institutions have fallen short-- and continue to fall short-- of the grave responsibility with which they are entrusted in ways too innumerable to list.

...Scientists have desperately searched for a vaccine. Despite the real risks to their health, doctors, nurses, cooks, cleaners, and clerical staff have reported for duty in their hospitals. Suddenly declared “essential,” workers who have long enjoyed little respect and low wages helped to keep society afloat.

For the rest of us, the order of the day was simply to stay at home and slow the spread. It was a modest task, which made it all the more galling that some people fell short. But this nitpick obscures how many people did do what they could to get us all through the crisis: They checked in with their relatives and cooked for the elderly. They took to their balconies to thank health-care workers or sang songs to cheer up the neighbors. By and large, they stayed at home and slowed the spread.

Thanks to the effort of millions of people, we were close to a great success story. But because of the failures of Trump and Chauvin, of the CDC and the WHO, of public-health experts and Fox News hosts, we are, instead, likely to give up—and tolerate that hundreds of thousands of our fellow citizens will die needless deaths.

Pandemics reveal the true state of a society. Ours has come up badly wanting.

Can You Imagine Trump Losing A Deep Red State Like Utah-- Unlikely, But Not Impossible

Utah Capitol

Utah used to be a normal state. Voters were with FDR all 4 times he ran and voted for Harry Truman in 1948. They voted for Eisenhower both times-- but many states did-- and then voted for Nixon over JFK, indicating a possible new direction for the electorate there. After rejecting Barry Goldwater in 1964, Utah has consistently been one of the reddest states in the Union. This is the percentage Utah gave each Republican nominee after 1964:

• 1968- Richard Nixon- 56.49
• 1972- Richard Nixon- 67.64%
• 1976- Gerald Ford- 62.44%
• 1980- Ronald Reagan- 72.77%
• 1984- Ronald Reagan- 74.50%
• 1988- George HW Bush- 66.22%
• 1992- George HW Bush- 43.36% (Perot- 27.34%)
• 1996- Bob Dole- 54.37% (Perot- 9.98%)
• 2000- George W. Bush- 66.83%
• 2004- George W Bush- 71.54%
• 2008- John McCain- 62.58%
• 2012- Mitt Romney- 72.79%
• 2016- Trumpanzee- 45.05%

In 2016, many Utah voters were nauseated by Trump but just couldn't pull the lever for a Democrat (Hillary Clinton). Bernie had beaten her soundly in the state's caucuses that year-- 79.3% to 20.3% and winning every singe county. In the Republican caucuses, Trump lost every single county and in some came in third. In fact, in some counties, Bernie drew more votes than Trump did-- including the big urban and suburban counties and the tiny rural counties!

• Cache County

Bernie- 2,906
Trump- 1,049

• Davis County

Bernie- 3,563
Trump- 2,902

• Grand County

Bernie- 636
Trump- 127

• Kane County

Bernie- 186
Trump- 137

• Salt Lake County

Bernie- 35,610
Trump- 6,542

• Summit County

Bernie- 1,645
Trump- 459

• Utah County

Bernie- 6,071
Trump- 3,713

• Wasatch County

Bernie- 557
Trump- 386

• Wayne County

Bernie- 70
Trump- 46

• Weber County

Bernie- 5,465
Trump- 1,695

But what happened in the general... well, Hillary. So many voters disaffected with Trump, voted for Evan McMullin, a native son running as an independent:

• Trump- 515,231 (45.54%)
• Hillary- 310,676 (27.46%)
• McMullin- 243,690 (21.54%)

Polling this cycle, shows many Utah Republicans till disaffected with the profane and decidedly and severely unpresidential Trump. The KUTV New poll suggests Trump could even lose the state's 6 electoral votes! He leads Biden 44-41%

"The close race," wrote UtahPolicy.com managing editor Bryan Schott, "is likely a factor of Trump’s unpopularity instead of rising support for Biden. Trump’s lead shrunk 2 points from our April survey [which had] him leading Biden 46-41 percent. Trump’s poor showing in Utah is in line with 2016 when he carried the state with just 45.5 percent. Clearly, Trump has not expanded his base of support since that time... Where Trump runs into trouble is among independent voters and political moderates. Biden leads Trump by 10 points among true independent voters, 38-28 percent. Moderates back Biden over Trump 53-19 percent. That unease about giving Trump another term in office among political independents and moderate Utah voters is the primary reason the contest with Biden is so close at this point in the race." Trump is leading among men 51-35% and losing among women 47-37%.

The survey also shows Trump trails Biden in both the 2nd and 4th Congressional Districts, which both contain significant parts of Salt Lake City and County. In CD 2, Biden leads Trump 46-42 percent. In the 4th District, Biden is ahead 43-38 percent.

  That distaste for Trump could have an impact on the hotly contested race in the 4th District. Right now, four Republicans are vying to be the party’s nominee to take on [Blue Dog] Democrat Ben McAdams in November. Former NFL player Burgess Owens is the current frontrunner in that race according to a Y2 Analytics survey, but the race is still wide open. Trump’s unpopularity could be a drag on the eventual GOP nominee in November. That might be key as McAdams barely squeaked to a win in 2018 in the heavily Republican district.

It’s curious that Trump is losing to Biden in the 2nd Congressional District, given that Rep. Chris Stewart, who represents the district, is one of Trump’s most fervent supporters in Congress. However, that is not expected to dampen Stewart’s chances to win another term as the district is rated “solid Republican” by several election forecasters.

I know, I know... the chances are slim to none, but imagine-- if you will-- what would happen if Utah Senator Mitt Romney and a coalition of Utah elder statesmen and political leaders make it clear what they think of the damage Trump has been doing to America, just as voters in Utah, a vote-by-mail state, start filling in their ballots in October.

Historic November Landslide In The Making?

Utah has a couple of blue and purple counties-- Salt Lake and Summit (which Hillary won in 2016) and Grand which she kind of won too-- 1,934 for Hillary and 1,932 for Señor Trumpanzee, a 43.4% to 43.4% tie, with #NeverTrump conservative Evan McMullin and Libertarian Gary Johnson getting most of the balance. In 2018 Mitt Romney lost both Summit and Grand to Jenny Wilson, a Democrat. And a putative Democrat, Blue Dog Ben McAdams narrowly ousted (50.1% to 49.9%) Republican incumbent Mia Love in UT-04, where the D+9 performance of Salt Lake County overcame the massive red tide in Utah, Sanpete and Juab counties.

But we all know that Utah is a beet red, blood red state. Utah voted for FDR and Truman and in 1964 backed LBJ against Barry Goldwater, 219,628 (54.9%) to 180,682 (45.1%). But 1964 was the last time Utah gave its electoral votes to a Democrat. In fact, since 2000, Obama's first race was the only time Utah gave over 30% of it;'s vote to a Democrat. McCain beat him 62.6% to 34.4%. Usually, Democrats get around a quarter of the presidential vote in Utah-- worse than in the Deep South. And that's why the new poll from UtahPolicy.com was so shocking yesterday:

If it gets so bad for Trump that he loses Utah, he'll wind up the way Strom Thurmond did when he ran for president in 1948 on the Dixiecrat Party and won 4 states. The electoral map looked very different then and current Republican bastions now-- like Texas, West Virginia, Oklahoma, Wyoming, Georgia and Utah-- were deep, deep blue. But these were the states that went for Thurmond in 1948 and will go for Trump in November:

• Alabama

Thurmond- 79.75%
Truman- not on the ballot
Dewey- 19.04%

• Louisiana

Thurmond- 49.07%
Truman- 32.75%
Dewey- 14.45%

• Mississippi

Thurmond- 87.17%
Truman- 10.09%
Dewey- 2.62%

• South Carolina

Thurmond- 71.97
Truman- 24.14%
Dewey- 3.78

Thurmond also did pretty well in Arkansas, Florida and Georgia. He wasn't on the ballot in Utah. Anyway, as I was saying, if Trump can't win Utah... the national election results in November will be pretty gratifying for normal Americans. How could that happen, though? Well, ever hear of a U.S. president conspiring-- relatively openly-- with Russia and Saudi Arabia to drive up the price of gasoline at the pump? Yesterday the Financial Times reported that Saudi Arabia and Russia ended their oil price war on Sunday by finalizing a deal to make the biggest oil production cuts in history, following pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump to support an energy sector ravaged by the coronavirus pandemic." That may give economically hard-pressed American voters some food for thought... at least about where Trump's priorities really are. Cliff Krauss, writing for the NY Times, noted that with "Trump, facing a re-election campaign, a plunging economy and American oil companies struggling with collapsing prices, [he] took the unusual step of getting involved after the two countries entered a price war a month ago. Mr. Trump had made an agreement a key priority. It was unclear, however, whether the cuts would be enough to bolster prices. Before the coronavirus crisis, 100 million barrels of oil each day fueled global commerce, but demand is down about 35 percent. While significant, the cuts agreed to on Sunday still fall far short of what is needed to bring oil production in line with demand... While the planned cut is slightly smaller than a tentative pact reached last Thursday, the deal should bring some relief to struggling economies in the Middle East and Africa and global oil companies, including American firms that directly and indirectly employ 10 million workers."

Higher gas prices are never popular but Trump is counting on the fact that most Americans aren't using gas now and that they might not notice him driving up the price. Unfortunately for him though, most Americans probably agree with the New Yorker's David Remnick that Trump is the preëxisting condition in the Oval Office that has made everything worse than it had to be. "From the start," he wrote, "the Trump Administration has waged war on science and expertise, making a great nation peculiarly vulnerable to the foreseeable public-health calamity of the coronavirus. When has New York known a grimmer week? The sirens are unceasing. Funeral parlors are overwhelmed. Refrigerator trailers are now in service as morgues, and can be found parked outside hospitals all over town. We’re told that there are 'glimmers of hope,' that hospital admissions are slowing, that the curve is flattening. Yet the misery is far from over... Across the country, the coronavirus continues to ravage the confined and the vulnerable, from inmates of the Cook County jail, in Chicago, to workers at the Tyson Foods poultry plant in Camilla, Georgia. Data from a variety of reliable sources show that African-Americans, who suffer disproportionately from poverty, inadequate housing, limited access to good health care, and chronic illnesses such as diabetes and hypertension, are dying from covid-19 at horrific rates. The pandemic is an event in the natural history of our species, but it is also a political episode. Its trajectory is shaped by policy measures specific to particular governments. The fact that the United States is experiencing tremendous losses-- that it has far more covid-19 cases than any other country in the world-- relates to a number of collective risk factors and preëxisting conditions. The most notable one is to be found in the Oval Office." Remnick joked that from the beginning of his term, Trump "practiced social distancing from anyone who told him what he didn’t want to hear."

The coronavirus has inflicted a level of pain that is deep and global. And yet many nations, from South Korea to Germany, have done far better at responding to it than the United States has. The reasons for the American failing include a lack of preparation, delayed mobilization, insufficient testing, and a reluctance to halt travel. The Administration, from its start, has waged war on science and expertise and on what Trump’s former adviser Steve Bannon called “the administrative state.” The results are all around us. Trump has made sure that a great nation is peculiarly vulnerable to a foreseeable public-health calamity.

...The knowledge that we are led so ineptly and with such brazen self-regard is humiliating to millions of American citizens, if not to their leader. Trump gives himself “a ten” for his performance and berates any reporter who dares to challenge that premise. “You should say, ‘Congratulations! Great job!’ ” he told one, “instead of being so horrid in the way you ask the question!”

A nation facing a common threat normally pulls together, but Trump’s reflex is always to divide; he has invoked a multiplying litany of enemies. He directs his fire at the Obama Administration, at the World Health Organization, and at governors from Albany to Sacramento, with their constant pleas for ventilators, test kits, and face masks. The Democrats are to blame for everything. Early in the year, as the pandemic grew, they “diverted” the attention of the federal government, because “every day was all about impeachment,” as Trump’s unfailing loyalist Mitch McConnell, the Senate Majority Leader, put it.

At a time of medical peril and economic devastation, the President heads to the White House briefing room and frames the terms of his reëlection campaign. It is a campaign of cynicism and authoritarian impulses. To begin with, he has made it clear that he does not approve of efforts to make voting easier in November. Why should he? He takes a dim view of early voting, voting by mail, and same-day registration. Such reforms, he complains, would produce “levels of voting that, if you ever agreed to it, you’d never have a Republican elected in this country again.”

Let's hope. As Rep. Andy Levin (D-MI) told DWT readers a few hours ago, "Last week, Joe Biden became the presumptive Democratic nominee for president.  I will support him wholeheartedly, with no reservations. As many of you know, I supported Elizabeth Warren in the primaries.  Her leadership in our current crisis, as exemplified by her April 8 NYT op-ed, shows why she could have been one of our greatest presidents. After she dropped out of the race, I switched my Michigan primary vote to Bernie Sanders. Why? Because Senator Sanders and I agree on the need to transform our country in bold ways, including:  

•  Medicare for All
• A Green New Deal
• Real worker voice and power in individual companies, industries and society

Bernie didn’t just run two successive presidential campaigns-- he inspired a movement that will have deep impacts on American policy and politics for years to come. Now, Bernie, Elizabeth and I will join with other progressives to create a veritable tsunami of organizing around our priorities to help sweep Joe Biden to power. The more we contribute, the more we help shape the fall campaign with open hearts and our best ideas, the more a Biden presidency will move America towards dignity and justice for all."

The Democratic Establishment Freak-Out

That depends on what you mean by "Democrats"

That there is a Stop Bernie movement among the Democratic Party leaders instead of a Stop Republican Oligarch Michael Bloomberg Movement tells you all you will ever need to know about the Democratic Establishment. As a cohort, they are less than worthless. Joe Biden was their anointed Jeb Bush for the 2020 election cycle. And now they are reduced to whining that Tom Steyer's money in South Carolina is obliterating a firewall among elderly rural African-American voters and putting the final nail into Biden's political coffin. Maybe they should have realized that, politically speaking, Biden has been a zombie/corpse for decades.

With Mayo Pete demonstrating the hollowness of his flimsy support outside of wine cellars, their new best hope is the free-spending-- on them-- Republican oligarch. This is the lowest the party establishment has ever sunk. Believe me, none of them were happy yesterday when they woke up to Matt Viser's Washington Post delineation of the massiveness of Bernie's win in Nevada the night before. Let's hope Bernie smashes the party establishment to smithereens on the day after the convention and breathes new life into a wearing, geriatric Democratic Party.

The next Stop Bernie attack will be that if he's on the top of the ticket, incumbents in red and purple districts could lose. The most Republican-voting assholes among Democrats in Congress, Blue Dogs Anthony Brindisi (NY) and Ben McAdams (UT), have both said they won't vote for Bernie. Neither, however, votes for virtually anything that's important to Democratic voters. So why should anyone care if they lose their seats? It's arguable that the Democratic Party will be much better off without members in Congress like Brindisi and McAdams, especially if they can pick up actual Democrats in other GOP-held districts, like, for example, Kara Eastman in Nebraska, Mike Siegel in Texas, Jon Hoadley in Michigan,  Jennifer Christie in Indiana, Tom Winter in Montana, Chris Armitage in Washington, Liam O'Mara in California, J.D. Scholten in Iowa...

Progressives in the House tell me that Brindisi is the worst Democrat in Congress and they all actually hope he's defeated just so that they won't gave to hear him constantly whining about how anything they try to do for the American people will cause him to lose his re-election battle. One senior Democrat told me he had never hoped for a colleague to lose before, but "I'd rather see a Republican in that seat than Brindisi. He's the worst lily-livered excuse for a Democrat I've ever seen." Meanwhile McAdams openly boasted that if Bernie or Elizabeth Warren wins the nomination he would distance himself from them. "My ideas are different than theirs," he said. "So as long as people understand that I’m going to be independent of any candidate and really be true to my district, I think that’s most important." But he isn't true to his district-- not at all. There are 4 counties or parts of counties that make up his district (UT-04). Salt Lake County has 5 times the number of voters than the other 3 combined. Here's how they voted in the 2016 Democratic caucuses, when Bernie was up against the status quo conservative Democrat McAdams backed:

• Salt Lake- Bernie 78.8%
• Utah- 85.3%
• Sanpete- Bernie 84.9%
• Juab- Bernie 77.5%

Yeah, so... so much for this lying sack of excrement being true to his constituents or his district, unless he's talking about the Republicans in his district. His district wants change and Biden is the no-change candidate. In 2016, they voted so overwhelmingly for Bernie because Bernie was-- and still is-- the change candidate. McAdams is a liar, trying to justify being so outrageously out of step with Democrats and independents in Utah.

OK, back to that report from Mike Debonis and Michael Scherer in The Post about the establishment's newest gambit to derail the working class champion. (If you don't want to read it, just approach Joy Reid if you dare; she's got a sickening version of it on infinite replay.) Debonis and Scherer wrote that "many Democratic House and Senate candidates are approaching a dramatic shift in their campaigns, as they recalibrate to include praise of capitalism and distance themselves from the national party. Top campaign strategists from both parties view Sanders’s success as a potentially tectonic event, which could narrow the party’s already slim hopes of retaking the Senate majority and fuel GOP dreams of reclaiming the House, which it lost amid a Democratic romp in 2018."

The most obvious people to go to to bolster this talking point would be representatives of Team Hillary and-- where that differs at all-- to the Republican wing of the party, like Rahm Emanuel. They went to one of Rahm's would-be clones. "I can tell you that there are a lot of down-ballot jitters based on my conversations with my former colleagues," said Steve Israel," who led the DCCC through some of its biggest losses in contemporary party history. He was kind enough to validate some GOP propaganda for them: "Trump is going to offer the American people this choice: Do you want to continue building the economy or do you want to lurch toward socialism? And that is a real powerful argument in the Democratic districts that Trump won in 2016."

Internal polling and analytics completed last week by former New York mayor Mike Bloomberg’s campaign projected that Sanders may be the only presidential candidate to win delegates in every state and district on March 3, delivering him a lead of 350 to 400 out of 1,357 delegates set to be awarded unless race dynamics change, according to a person familiar with the data who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the person was not authorized to speak publicly.

Because of Democratic rules that give no delegates to candidates who scores less than 15 percent of the vote in a state or congressional district, Sanders could build a delegate lead far greater than his advantage in the popular vote.

If Democrats are awakening to a recognition that Sanders could pull away from the rest of the field, there is far less consensus about whether his nomination will help President Trump win reelection. Sanders’s power to turn out young and blue-collar voters or suburbanites is not fully tested, the ceiling of Trump’s support is poorly defined in a two-way race and the senator from Vermont has not yet been subjected to a negative paid advertising effort.

“Our data shows that all of our potential nominees, including Sanders, have a pathway to victory, but it isn’t guaranteed,” said Guy Cecil, chairman of Priorities USA, a Democratic super PAC that has polled heavily in the key presidential swing states. “This election will be close regardless of who we nominate.”

But there is far less flexibility for candidates in smaller districts. That has prompted Republicans to celebrate as they look to reclaim ground they lost in 2018 when largely affluent suburbs rebelled against the GOP in a protest of Trump.

“The Democrats’ embrace of socialism is going to cost them their majority-- I mean, it’s as simple as that,” said Rep. Tom Emmer (R-MN), chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee. “Bernie is about as good a contrast as we could have ever hoped for.”

Bear in mind that Tom Emmer-- and the economic royalists inside the Democratic Party-- are repeating, virtually word for word, what the conservatives said about FDR, who they also-- unflinchingly and 4 two decades-- labeled a Socialist!!!!! I might remind you that, in every possible way, Michael Bloomberg is the perfect antithesis of Franklin Roosevelt. This is what happened when the conservatives, in some cases of both parties, went to the voters with the Socialism!!!! message against FDR and the Democratic Party:

1932

• Presidential popular vote- FDR wins 22,821,277 (57.4%) to 15,761,254 (39.7%)
• electoral vote 472 to 59 (GOP carried 6 states)
• Senate- 58-37 (GOP lost 11 seats)
• House- 313-117 (GOP lost 101 seats)

1936

• Presidential popular vote- FDR wins 27,747,636 (60.8%) to 16,679,543 (36.5%)
• electoral vote 523 to 8 (GOP carried 2 states)
• Senate- 74-17 (GOP lost 5 seats)
• House- 334-88 (GOP lost 15 seats)

1940-- when the VP nominee was an actual Socialist

• Presidential popular vote- FDR wins 27,313,945 (54.7%) to 22,347,744 (44.8%)
• electoral vote 449 to 82 (GOP carried 10 states)
• Senate- 66-27 (Dems lost 2 seats)
• House- 267-162 (GOP lost 7 seats)

1944

• Presidential popular vote- FDR wins 25,612,916 (53.4%) to 22,017,929 (45.9%)
• electoral vote 432 to 99 (GOP carried 12 states)
• Senate- 58-37 (no net change)
• House- 242-191 (GOP lost 18 seats)

Alan Grayson (D-FL) is taking a time-out from Congress. I spoke with him yesterday and he told me that "In every election cycle for many years now, the GOP tries to play mind games with Democrats to turn them against their own leaders, whom the GOP says are never 'moderate' enough to win-- except when they do. And whenever those Democratic leaders actually are progressive, the GOP finds willing co-conspirators in that mind-game among right-wing Democrats. The term 'unelectable' is simply a weapon that right-wing Democrats deploy against progressives, time after time after time. You could make a good argument that Trump actually is further to the right than Bernie is to the left. Where, oh where, are the 'moderate' GOP politicos, wringing their hands over that? Why is it that when Bernie says something lefty, he’s called a socialist, and when Trump does something racist or crazy or just stupid, he’s 'motivating his base?'"





I asked a few members of Congress and some candidates for Congress how they see this dynamic themselves. I started with Los Angeles' liberal lion, Ted Lieu, who endorsed Kamala Harris with whom he had worked closely on several of his legislative priorities both in Sacramento and in Washington. He hasn't endorsed anyone since she withdrew and told me that he will support whoever wins the Democratic nomination. He added that he also noted "that the conventional wisdom of Washington insiders was wrong about Obama, wrong about Trump and currently contradicted by the actual voter data when it comes to Sanders. For 5 years the polls have shown Sanders beats Trump in head to head matchups. And in a recent Emerson poll this month, it shows Sanders was the only Democratic candidate to beat Trump in a head to head matchup. The notion that in November a voter will turn out and vote for Sanders and then somehow vote for the down ballot GOP congressional candidate is simply not supported by the data."

Tom Suozzi is a New Dem from Long Island, a serious legislator with serious ideas about how to serve his constituents. We don't agree on issues as much as Ted Lieu and I do but we do agree about the whole party coming together after Bernie is the nominee. Tom endorsed one of the other presidential candidates but told me yesterday that "A big problem in America today is that too many people view their fellow Americans with contempt. It is ok to disagree and disagree strongly, but contempt will destroy us. Just because you don’t agree with someone in their choice of candidate or their position on a particular issue, it does not mean it is ok to view them with contempt. If we are to defeat Donald Trump, we need everyone from Bernie and AOC, all the way to Bloomberg and Biden and everyone in between. If we can’t hold that coalition together, we lose. Campaigns are tough, and candidates and their surrogates play to win, but everyone must recognize that when the dust settles, we need to unite behind the winner, even if it wasn’t your first choice. If we don’t, then Trump wins again." I have no doubt that Tom Suozzi will be enthusiastically introducing Bernie to his constituents when Bernie visits Huntington and Hicksville next fall.

Tomas Ramos, a Bronx-based Berniecrat who is campaigning for an open congressional seat on the same set of issues Bernie is campaigning on, told me last night that "The notion that if Bernie is at the top of the ticket we lose Congress is simply not true. Bernie created a movement the first time around and now the movement has only gotten bigger, with young and old people alike. When I’m out door knocking I ask my voters who are they supporting for president, the common answer is Bernie. People are more excited for Bernie than ever before. The voters in my district know that we need to beat Trump and they know that Bernie is the guy to do so."

Liam O'Mara, a history professor taking on Trumpist Rep. Ken Calvert in Riverside County, California, pointed out that "Democrats have struggled to hold onto congressional majorities, but one key reason for that is their tepid stances on the issues, their frequent preference for right-wing economics, and their refusal to push for policies which are broadly popular. Congress often has an approval rating in the single digits. The drift to the right since the late 1980s has been a demonstrable failure. We have lost most statehouses and most presidential elections, and struggled to hold onto either chamber of Congress. Something has to give. The way forward for Democrats is to embrace progressivism. This isn't the 1970s-- the country has caught up with the progressive agenda on a wide range of issues. Most Americans oppose corporate money's control of our elections. Most Americans support single-payer health care. Most Americans oppose our interventionist foreign policy and our many wars. Most Americans accept the consensus on global warming and want serious action. Most Americans distrust the bankers who keep crashing our economy, and the neoliberal trade deals that have undermined workers, and want better oversight. The list goes on and on. Sanders is doing well because people are tired of the same old message. He is bringing new people into the political process, talking about issues that affect most of our lives, and he's been winning over independents and even conservatives. If Democrats really want to control Congress and the White House, there is a path to both available. I can tell you that in my own race, running a respectful campaign which will talk to anyone and focusses on policy rather than partisanship has been resonating. It is something we should see more of in this country, not less.

Milwaukie Mayor Mark Gamba, running for the Oregon seat held by Blue Dog Kurt Schrader, who agrees with Republicans on crucial issues more than with Democrats. " Look, people get all caught up in a variety of complicated theories about what some candidate will or won't do to down ticket races," Gamba told me yesterday. "I think it's much more simple than that. The vast majority of the American people have been getting screwed by neo-liberal, profits first, policies enacted by both Republicans and 'centerist' Democrats for over 40 years. For simplicity's sake, let's call that the status-quo. In 2016 they were desperate for that to change. They still are. Trump has proven himself to be even more blatant about screwing everyone but the 1%. The way we bring out an excited electorate is to offer them real solutions to their problems-- Sanders offers that. So do about 100 people running tough races against incumbent members of the status-quo all over America. What the talking heads are truly frightened of, is Sanders AND an army of like-minded people getting elected and enacting real change that supports the 99%, taxes the bloody rich for a change, stops climate chaos and reduces the constant misery for a few hundred million Americans. So we will continue to see all kinds of half assed theories telling us why electing Sanders will doom us all. Never forget that the talking heads and the media conglomerates they work for are all part of the 1%.

Kim Williams is the Central Valley progressive running for the seat occupied by Blue Dog Jim Costa. "Since last summer," she explained, "I’ve knocked on thousands of doors. I’ve heard people’s stories, shook their hands, and listened to their dreams for their children. None of these conversations align with the establishment’s understanding of America. One hundred and forty million Americans have been left behind. They don’t see themselves in the booming economy and they don’t see themselves in the national news. Sanders is the only candidate that acknowledges the very real challenges people face and actually offers solutions. It’s absurd to keep attacking him on his electability when he keeps winning, and it’s ridiculous to suggest that he’s never really been attacked when the media has been unrelenting in their negative coverage. But while pundits panic over the presidential election, we see something very different on the ground. Being a progressive candidate with a policy platform that aligns with Sanders has been a tremendous asset, not a burden. In fact, if someone wanted to coin a phrase for down-ballot races, I think referring to candidates as “Bernie Democrats” would actually be quite powerful. It immediately conveys policy positions and lets normally disenfranchised voters know you’re on their side. This might shake the establishment, but it energizes the majority. And they will ultimately decide who represents them."

Arizona workers rights champion and progressive candidate for Congress, Eva Putzova, was a Bernie delegate to last cycle's DNC. Today she's running on an Arizona version of that platform. "The assertion that a Sanders nomination wlll result in Democrats losing congressional seats is ridiculous. The opposite is the case," she said. "In my district, the momentum generated by Sanders campaign is already firing up the base of the party-- youth, people of color, women, workers and climate activists, and even moderates who are starting to realize that Sanders is fighting to make their lives better and more secure. From my perspective, and that of my campaign, if Sanders wins the nomination it increases my chances to win the primary in August and the general election in November. I share Rep. Lieu's assessment that voters who turn out for Sanders will not vote for GOP candidates down-ballot. All Democrats, particularly progressive Democrats, will benefit if Sanders is at the top of the ticket."

"In NY-25, the issues that comprise Bernie Sanders’s platform are the ones that most enthuse our Democratic base," said Rochester progressive Robin Wilt. "As I go door-to-door, Bernie’s platform resonates with the voters whom I engage. I want to clarify that when I mention the Democratic base, I’m not talking about the elite Democratic establishment that comprise fewer than 1% of our Democratic electorate. We recently had occasion to histogram the age of the Democratic Committee in the jurisdiction of Brighton, NY, where I serve in town government. Both the mean and the average age were…wait for it… 62 years of age. The Democratic elite are not representative of the registered base of Democrats. They never have been, and they never will be. When we continue to ignore the voice of the overwhelming majority of the electorate, in favor of amplifying the voices of the establishment that increasingly does not resemble the registered base, we risk mistaking the will of party operatives with the will of the people. I was at the rally at Queensbridge Park. I have been canvassing my Congressional District. The masses believe in the future promised by Bernie Sanders, not the cynicism expressed by an increasingly detached party elite."

The Republican Party Has Allowed Itself To Die And Be Reborn As The Trumpist Party

Gangsta President by Nancy Ohanian

Two Republicans who don't know each other, diverged on their reactions to the end of the impeachment saga. Trump's top Florida butt-wipe Matt Gaetz (lately on thin ice with the Trumpists himself ) demanded Mitt Romney be thrown out of the GOP, implying strongly that the GOP is simply a vehicle for Trumpism and nothing more. Vermont's Republican governor, Phil Scott, a mainstream conservative doesn't agree and on Thursday, while Gaetz was sucking Trump's ass, he said Trump should have been removed from office by the Senate. Scott: "I believe he abused his position of power. Withholding some of those funds is inappropriate and I believe, as Sen. Romney did, that he shouldn’t be in office." [Maryland's Republican governor, Larry Hogan, also strongly implied that Trump was guilty and should be evicted from the White House. Speaking yesterday at the State Solutions conference, he said "I don’t think Congress did their job. But the American people will, and I have more faith in the American people to make that decision in November, and that’s what they're going to get to do."]

Yesterday, back in Maine, one of Trump's arch-enablers, Senator Susan Collins said "I’m obviously not in favor of any kind of retribution against anyone who came forward with evidence." Obviously? Who knows with you? What a phony! There may be other Republican office holders who agree with Governors Hogan and Scott, but they're not speaking out. The vast majority of Republican voters are now part of the Trumpist cult and they are abiding no disobedience to The Leader. And The Leader is now making it clear to the party, that those who fail to toe the line will pay for their infidelity. And Romney is on the very top of his list (replacing Bolton, who is now #2 on the Trumpanzee enemies list).

On Thursday, Trump announced he will be unleashing miners and drillers to devastate what's left of Utah's pristine national monuments (Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante).




But that's nothing compared to what Trump has in mind for Romney personally. "The only one that voted against us was a guy that can't stand the fact that he ran one of the worst campaigns in the history of the presidency," he growled on Thursday. The the SMTT (Social Media Trumpanzee Thugs), led by Trumpanzee, Jr., launched an all-out offensive against Romney online, of the sort McKay Coppins wrote about in his Billion-Dollar Disinformation Campaign for The Atlantic this week. Jr. called him a pussy on Instagram and asserted that "He was too weak to beat the Democrats then so he's joining them now. He's now officially a member of the resistance & should be expelled from the @GOP." He and his fascist gang have been all over Twitter inciting their cult followers to spread the hate.

Josh Dawsey reported at the Washington Post that the Trump campaign that Trump plans to finance a primary challenger against Romney in 2024 and to pressure donors to shut off the financial spigots. Trumpists also say they will make sure none of Romney's legislation will be passed in the Senate. A small handful of Republicans-- basically the #NeverTrumpers-- are pushing back. Republicans For the Rule of Law, are running this ad defending Romney:



Friday, Dawsey was joined by Robert Costa and Greg Miller to lay out the parameters of the Trumpist plans for revenge against others Trump sees as his enemies. The first Trump intends to make an example of is Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, a decorated National Security Council official who testified against him during the impeachment hearings. Vindman "is being reassigned to a position at the Defense Department, taking a key figure from the investigation out of the White House... Trump is eager to make a symbol of the Army officer, who had already requested a transfer himself.

Trump made clear on Thursday that he is ready to make his impeachment a key part of his reelection strategy and highlight his anger at Democratic leaders who led the charge to remove him from office, as well as Republicans who did not embrace the defense of his actions even though he was acquitted by the Senate on Wednesday.

At an event in the East Room of the White House, he called Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) a “horrible person” and derided Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) as a flip-flopping Republican with “no sign of principles” whose vote to convict Trump on abuse of power charges was born not out of principle but bitterness over his failed 2012 presidential bid.

And he kicked off the day at the National Prayer Breakfast by questioning the two lawmakers’ claims about the role religion plays in their public lives.

“I don’t like people who use their faith as justification for doing what they know is wrong. Nor do I like people who say, ‘I pray for you,’ when they know that that’s not so,” he told a room full of religious leaders.

Trump and his allies are considering doing more than just launching verbal fusillades at his perceived enemies over impeachment as the decision regarding Vindman shows. Some of the president’s aides are discussing whether to remove or reassign several administration officials who testified during the impeachment inquiry, according to aides and advisers who like others spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the plans. Meanwhile, Senate committee chairmen are ramping up their investigation into Hunter Biden’s work in Ukraine while his father, Joe, was vice president.

“Lieutenant Colonel Col. Vindman and his twin brother-- right?-- we had some people that-- really amazing,” Trump said during an event at the White House, mocking the national security counsel aide who testified during hearings investigating the White House’s actions toward Ukraine.

Trump has complained about Vindman in private, mocking the way he spoke, wore his uniform and conducted himself during the impeachment inquiry, according to people familiar with his remarks. He has discussed with aides removing other national security officials who testified or cooperated with House Democrats, with Trump calling them disloyal and asking whether he should further cull his national security staff after impeachment. He remains incensed that so many people in his administration testified last year, according to allies of the president. No final decisions have been made on what to do with the officials, these people said.

But the White House is not hiding from the fact it would like to see Democrats and Romney feel some pain for their role in his impeachment.

Stephanie Grisham, the president’s press secretary, said making people pay for their conduct was a reason Trump held an event Thursday in the East Room of the White House, which Trump later said was not a speech but a “celebration” of his acquittal by the Senate a day earlier.

Advisers to the president said Trump is already thinking about a scorched-earth nine-month campaign and how Democrats might attack him next-- and how he can land punches of his own.

“He’s keenly aware of the fact that the Democrats only have one play: to destroy him personally every single day… until November,” said Jason Miller, an informal adviser and former campaign aide.

Additionally, Trump sees it as valuable to frame previous investigations as witch hunts because he expects more probes, Miller and other Trump allies said, and the president has told his aides that Democrats will continue to investigate his finances, his Cabinet officials and his interactions with foreign leaders.

Trump was not in a reflective mood about his conduct on Thursday.

...Trump has denied any wrongdoing and-- despite some Republican senators calling his action wrong even if not impeachable-- he has shown no remorse.

That was evident from the time he left the White House on Thursday morning on his way to the prayer breakfast being held at a nearby hotel.

He rewrote parts of his speech for the event, scribbling en route, to highlight his impeachment and attack his foes at a traditionally staid, nonpartisan affair, according to officials. When Arthur Brooks, a conservative columnist, encouraged guests at the breakfast to “love your enemies” and set aside contempt, Trump pointedly said that he did not concur.

“I don’t know if I agree with you. I don’t know if Arthur is going to like what I’m going to say,” he said, before attacking both Pelosi and Romney from the dais at the Washington Hilton.

His event in the East Room later in the day was part celebration, part tirade as he thanked his supporters and laid into his critics.

“They are vicious and mean, vicious. These people are vicious,” he said of Democrats before focusing specifically on Pelosi and House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam B. Schiff (D-CA), who led the impeachment inquiry.

He brought up Hunter Biden, criticizing his role in Ukraine and mocking him for being discharged from the Navy Reserve after allegedly testing positive for cocaine.

Trump plans to repeatedly bring up the younger Biden on the campaign trail, according to White House officials, hoping to use it against Joe Biden, a 2020 Democratic presidential candidate, and to argue that Democrats are corrupt. Neither Biden has been charged with any wrongdoing by Ukrainian officials.

Trump has continued to suggest to aides that his personal lawyer, Rudolph W. Giuliani, could have valuable information and that Hunter Biden resonates with the general public.

He may get help on this topic from Senate Republicans.

In a letter sent Wednesday to the head of the Secret Service, two Senate committee chairmen wrote that they are “reviewing potential conflicts of interest posed by the business activities of Hunter Biden and his associates during the Obama administration, particularly with respect to his business activities in Ukraine and China.”

Sens. Charles E. Grassley (IA) and Ron Johnson (WI) said they are seeking information on any instances when Hunter Biden traveled with a protective security detail during the time his father was vice president, as well as when he flew on government planes.

Trump has been convinced by polling and rallies in recent months that relentlessly attacking Pelosi is key to his reelection success, and he has shown flashes of anger when discussing her, according to aides.

Republican lawmakers and Trump have also discussed ways to exact revenge on Schiff for his leading role in the president’s impeachment, according to people familiar with the conversations.

Some White House, campaign and congressional officials are pushing Trump to move on from talking about impeachment or attacking Romney, the lone Republican to vote for his conviction. RNC and campaign officials said they were happy Thursday that Trump did not seem to have a specific plan to take on Romney, even as the White House lashed into him in a long page of talking points.

“There’s a lot of anger there. But I think this, too, shall pass,” said Rep. Chris Stewart (R-UT), a Trump ally.

One top ally suggested the president should go to Florida, golf for a few days and bask in the sun with his friends-- or turn his focus to attacking Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) or attempting to sow division among the Democratic 2020 nominees.

...But Trump was unable to hide his anger in public on Thursday and it’s unclear when or if he will stop focusing on his impeachment and investigations into his administration.

“We’ve been going through this now for over three years. It was evil. It was corrupt. It was dirty cops. It was leakers and liars,” he said in the East Room. “And this should never, ever happen to another president, ever.”