A day or two before the presidential election of 1992, independent candidate Ross Perot went on Larry King Live, the TV program which was largely responsible for him even being on the ballot. King asked him the obvious question: "How do you think you're going to do on Tuesday?"
I haven't been able to find a video or transcript online but I remember his answer quite vividly. It struck me as especially stunning since Perot's appeal to voters — the only real reason he was a major candidate who'd been included in the debates — was that he was a straight-talking, atypical politician. And what this straight-talking, atypical politician said was that he was going to carry every state and win 100% of all 538 electoral votes. All of them.
I remember the look of shock on Mr. King's face and he muttered something about how no one in history had ever done that, to which Perot replied with dead seriousness that he'd be the first. I don't recall if King then pointed out that at that moment, not one single pollster was showing Perot as being even close to winning one state, let alone every one. And indeed on Election Day, Perot won as many as I did. Or you did. Or Donald Duck did. Zero.
I wonder to this day: Was that what he really believed or was it something he thought he should say? It had to be one or the other and neither is flattering to the man.
I began thinking about this again last night when I saw this…
As hundreds of reports like this one by Rod Dreher have pointed out, Trump is being accused — indirectly, but accused nonetheless — of actual crimes by the actual Justice Department. There was nothing in the Very Bad News he received yesterday that clears him. He's in more legal jeopardy now than ever. Does he know that? Was that what he really believed or was it something he thought he should say?
If it was something he thought he should say, he's in trouble because that's not a response that will satisfy his supporters and it certainly won't stop the accusations and indictments from rolling on, even if the prosecutors have concluded that the President of the United States cannot be indicted, no matter what he's done. There are (and will be more) charges that have to be faced. You can't make them go away by insisting they do not exist.
But if he really believes he was cleared, he's in bigger trouble. Because you can't even formulate a strategy if you don't even know what you're up against.