Trump Admits There Is No Political Strategy Behind His Attacks on Elijah Cummings

Returning to the White House from Jamestown on Tuesday, President Trump admitted what everyone pretty much already figured.

Asked by a reporter on the South Lawn about the point of the “political strategy” behind his divisive attacks on lawmakers, Trump first clarified that the question referred to Rep. Elijah Cummings and the recent racist broadsides Trump has launched at the Maryland Democrat. Then he gave his answer:

Trump on the political strategy behind his attacks on Elijah Cummings: “There’s no strategy. I have no strategy. There’s zero strategy.” pic.twitter.com/cL0OCQzVTr

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) July 30, 2019

“There’s no strategy, I have no strategy. There’s zero strategy. All it is is I’m pointing out facts.”

A lot of political analysts like to claim Trump is playing some sort of sophisticated strategic game to focus the press on his outlandish statements and keep it from paying attention to other scandals. And perhaps some part of his lizard brain instinctively thinks this way.

But mostly, it is pretty simple. Trump is angry at Cummings because the House Oversight Committee he leads recently issued subpoenas for the private email accounts and other communications senior White House officials used to conduct official government business early in the administration.

Since that group includes Trump’s daughter Ivanka and her husband Jared Kushner, the president is particularly upset. Therefore, he lashed out at Cummings on an unrelated issue.

There is no strategy beyond impotently flailing in anger, no matter how many analysts claim Trump is playing multi-dimensional chess.

Watch the video in the embedded tweet above, via Vox’s Aaron Rupar.