Does Trump know how witch hunts work?

BloombergOpinion Early Returns

Jonathan Bernstein

It was clarifying, on Monday, to see that Republicans are now selling a "witch hunt" T-shirt in which House Democrats are portrayed as … witches. Finally, one of President Donald Trump's favorite slogans makes sense! It's not what the rest of us mean by "witch hunt" — an investigation into something that doesn't exist, which continues regardless of evidence. Instead, "witch hunts" are apparently investigations conducted by witches, and are thus illegitimate per se. This may be why special counsel Robert Mueller's probe was deemed a witch hunt even though it uncovered substantial evidence of wrongdoing. The real question was whether Mueller was a witch himself or a front for the real witches. It also helps explain Trump's fixation with various supposed conflicts of interest within the FBI. It doesn't matter whether the bureau's probe into his campaign's contacts with Russia was conducted properly. It doesn't even matter that Trump's core theory — that the FBI was out to stop him but forgot the part about going public before the election — doesn't make any sense. What matters is that witches in the bureau such as Peter Strzok and "and his lover Lisa Page" didn't like Trump, and that the wife of former acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe ran for office in Virginia and was supported by Governor Terry McAuliffe who is a well-known friend of Hillary Clinton's. Convoluted? Sure. But that's how it is with witches.  It's almost as if ad hominem attacks have become a core part of Trump's defense strategy as he faces impeachment. It took no time at all, in fact, for Fox News commentators to decide that the decorated Army officer who is scheduled to testify Tuesday about Trump's improper conduct toward Ukraine must be some sort of double-agent. If he's a witch, who cares what he actually has to say? As Adam Serwer put it, "No patriot could criticize Trump because, for Trumpists, to oppose Trump is to oppose America. To oppose Trump is itself treason. It doesn't matter how much you've served or sacrificed, except in the name of Trump." In other words: She's a witch! Burn her!  The problem with this strategy is that no one will really buy it. It gives Fox News hosts something to say and hard-core Trump fans talking points to repeat. But it's entirely ineffective on other people — which might be one reason why Trump is persistently unpopular and a solid plurality of voters now supports his impeachment and removal.  The real question is how uncomfortable senators such as Lamar Alexander and Rob Portman are with this defense and the lack of anything more substantive. The White House should be making it as easy as possible for them to stick with the president and oppose impeachment. Instead, it's providing talking points that either melt away almost as soon as they're drafted or are intended only for true believers. That's fine for those who will back Trump no matter what. But we've already seen a lot of Republican senators break with him — on Yemen, Syria, his border "emergency" and more. I'm not saying they'll abandon him on impeachment. But he sure is making it hard for them, and there's no way of knowing where the breaking point might be. More talk about "witches" won't help. 1. Mara Suttmann-Lea at A House Divided on lynching and voting rights. 2. Jan Zilinsky, Cristian Vaccari, Jonathan Nagler and Joshua Tucker at the Monkey Cage on celebrities, politics and Twitter. 3. Geoffrey Skelley on the qualifications for the December debate. I supported how the Democratic National Committee handled the early rounds; it made sense to cull the enormous candidate field early, first to 20 or so and then to a dozen. But I don't see any reason to keep pushing marginal candidates out at this point, when Iowa and New Hampshire voters are perfectly capable of doing so. 4. My Bloomberg Opinion colleague Cass Sunstein on the recent rise in air pollution.  5. And Jonathan Chait on Trump and "The Godfather." Get Early Returns every morning in your inbox. Click here to subscribe. Also subscribe to Bloomberg All Access and get much, much more. You'll receive our unmatched global news coverage and two in-depth daily newsletters, the Bloomberg Open and the Bloomberg Close.

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