White House Staff ‘Terrified’ Of ‘Irrational,’ ‘Mentally Incapacitated’ Trump Amid Shutdown, Says Howard Dean
Former Democratic National Committee chairman and Vermont governor Howard Dean appeared on MSNBC on Sunday, criticizing President Donald Trump for being “irrational” in his insistence on continuing the ongoing partial government shutdown over his planned wall across the U.S.-Mexico border.
As quoted by Raw Story, Dean’s comments about Trump were made to MSNBC’s Frances Rivera, and included a callback to a similar remark he previously made to the network, as he reiterated how he feels Trump is “mentally incapacitated.” According to Dean, Trump has a tendency to say things he “knows aren’t true,” but expects people to believe these statements even if they often don’t.
“So essentially you can’t really make a bargain with somebody who is irrational, because they won’t keep it, and Republicans have been quoted off the record as saying such a thing,” Dean said.
“Republicans and the Democrats in Congress have got to do the best they can in the absence of a chief executive who is really a chief executive.”
According to Newsweek, Howard Dean used the term “mentally ill” when referring to Trump in September in an interview with MSNBC’s Alex Witt. At that time, he also opined that the president’s narcissism makes it difficult for him to do the right things, may it be for the United States or for himself.
Talking about the current government shutdown and how Trump has kept things stalemated by continuing to demand his desired funding for the border wall, Dean suggested that White House staffers are “terrified” by the president’s refusal to back down despite the fact the impasse is in the middle of its second week. He added that regardless of whose fault it turns out to be, Trump will always be blamed for any untoward events that take place during the shutdown, such as a major stock market crash.
“That’s what happens in politics; the top guy always gets the blame. He’s going to have to figure out a way out of this. The longer it goes on, the more problems for Donald Trump.”
An A+ in delusion
Trump staff ‘terrified’ because ‘mentally incapacitated’ president thinks he's winning wall fight: Howard Dean https://t.co/y8jSlot3mC
— Raw Story (@RawStory) December 30, 2018
As of this writing, the partial government shutdown is now in its 10th day, and, as observed by the Guardian, has yet to show any clear sign of ending soon. With Democrat lawmakers opposed to the border wall still at a stalemate with the president over the $5 billion being demanded for the project, Trump recently took to Twitter to blame the party’s policies for the deaths of Guatemalan children Jakelin Caal and Felipe Gomez Alonzo, who passed away while in the custody of U.S. authorities.
Meanwhile, the Guardian noted how Trump has received continued criticism over his unwillingness to compromise over the amount of money to be spent on the border wall. Justin Goodman, a spokesman for Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, was quoted as saying that Trump has “[blamed] everyone but himself” for the shutdown, despite how he pushed for it “more than 25 times.”
