The past year in politics has been a swirling vortex of hate, hyperbole, and conspiracy theories so out-of-control that nearly every spectacle — usually, a moment of Trumpian improv at some rally somewhere — seems immediately to erase the entire election from the attention of the Twittering class.
But, occasionally, moments last: Jeb Bush’s “Please clap.” Donald Trump’s reluctance to disavow the KKK.
And now: “Says who?”
Clips like this one are special. They encapsulate everything there is to say about a campaign in a single phrase. And this time, Trump attorney Michael Cohen did us all the favor of summarizing his boss’s presidential efforts in two words, two words that express a fundamental denial of reality when it does not operate in your favor.
Cohen demanded to know “who!” was saying that the Trump campaign was desperately behind Hillary Clinton. The answer, of course, is everyone: Every legitimate poll, and even the illegitimate polls. You may dispute the importance or legitimacy of polling as a predictive instrument, but you can’t deny the results of the polls themselves: Trump is behind. Way behind.
And yet, Cohen refuses to acknowledge as such until forced to do so. That, or he’s actually just now begun following the election and was asking CNN anchor Brianna Keilar to update him on the numbers — equally likely, given the Trump campaign’s complete meltdown in recent months.
So, there it is. The Trump campaign in two angry words.
Video: CNN/ The Hill
