Like defusing a bomb or being a hostage negotiator, there were Trump whisperers who got the stubborn, cranky menace to agree to sign the coronavirus relief bill.
The deal was closed on a Sunday afternoon phone call with Trump, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy. “This is good,” Trump finally said, an official familiar with the call told me. “I should sign this.”
Mnuchin and McCarthy, along with Lindsey Graham on the golf course, indulged the rants over the holiday and found “wins” Trump could announce, even while not changing a thing in the bill.
- They invoked his legacy
- They reminded him he didn’t want to hurt people
- They told him he was a fighter, but that he’d gotten all he could get
Then the Art of the Deal author suggested in his 8:15pm statement that the House and the Senate were going to focus on “substantial” voter fraud.
“The Senate will start the process for a vote that increases checks to $2,000, repeals Section 230, and starts an investigation into voter fraud. Big Tech must not get protections of Section 230! Voter Fraud must be fixed! Much more money is coming. I will never give up my fight for the American people!”
But according to Republican pollster Frank Luntz, “It may be too late. Too late for him, too late for the economy, too late for Covid, and too late for the Georgia senators.”
See Axios.
