Habemus tabii …
Comey’s brilliant idea yesterday here was — in lieu of a promotional budget, which I’m guessing James Comey’s half-baked and unread novels lack — to post a picture that walked that same line in the way he accuses his antagonists in the book of doing. (“Did he cross the line?,” etc.) This would then “start a public conversation” and in so doing stimulate curiosity and/or sales for his fiction.
It was also an incredibly stupid, pathetic idea, but that aspect is priced in with a weirdo like Comey. In fact, that is my primary takeaway from this ridiculous 24-hour kerfuffle. How did anyone this weird ever manage to rise so high in the Justice Department before taking control of the nation’s leading law enforcement agency?
Ed: That’s really the question in this episode. Comey is a world-class strange-o. I very seriously doubt that he wants Trump assassinated, but he’s just too self-absorbed to realize how juvenile and bizarre this is.
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This has to be a hard pill for CNN to swallow.
Right out of the gate: “I think it’s time for a bit of a reality check.”
“He is RISING FROM THE DEAD like Methuselah!”
“He’s up 7 points!”
Devastating. pic.twitter.com/MOpuKiR4Sx
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) May 16, 2025
Ed: RCP’s aggregate average shows it trending back too, but there’s still a pretty significant negative gap. It might take a couple of more weeks of polling to see the full impact of the deals Trump made over the last couple of weeks on trade and in the Middle East. But it is going back in the right direction for Trump.
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House Republican spending hawks blocked the party’s giant tax-and-spending bill on Friday, delivering President Trump a setback over disagreements on Medicaid, clean-energy tax breaks and budget deficits.
The holdouts—Reps. Chip Roy of Texas, Ralph Norman of South Carolina, Josh Brecheen of Oklahoma and Andrew Clyde of Georgia—stopped the Budget Committee from advancing the legislation, which leaders hope to pass by the full House next week. The panel failed to move the bill on a 16-21 vote, with those four Republicans and Rep. Lloyd Smucker (R., Pa.) joining all Democrats in opposition. Smucker, who backs the measure, said he voted no for procedural reasons, so he can call for a revote later.
Budget Committee Chairman Jodey Arrington (R., Texas) said lawmakers were close to agreements on making changes to win the necessary votes.
Ed: I’d have written a full post on this today, except that the House GOP caucus drama has started to become rather tiresome. Speaker Mike Johnson will likely bring Trump into the room over the next couple of days to get this hammered out. It would be very helpful indeed if we could keep everyone on the same page.
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If your job title is “Chief Media Analyst,” you have a duty to investigate the biggest media scandal in American history – covering up Biden’s cognitive decline.
@markhalperin on Brian Stelter and journalistic malpractice.Watch & Subscribe:https://t.co/H3ijCS4RsP pic.twitter.com/iY1fPWrLx5
— Next Up with Mark Halperin (@NextUpHalperin) May 16, 2025
Ed: More like Chief Apple Polisher.
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In December 2022, Biden couldn’t even recall his former top national security aide and communications director from his vice presidency — which had ended less than six years before.
“Steve,” he beckoned to his national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, after announcing the US had secured the release of WNBA star Brittney Griner from a Russian prison in exchange for the notorious arms dealer Viktor Bout.
“Steve,” the president asked again, trying to call him into an Oval Office meeting and referring at the same time to his former and current spokeswoman Kate Bedingfield as merely “Press.”
Ed: With this in mind …
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Biden’s former NSA Jake Sullivan says he didn’t know about Biden’s mental decline: “What happened in that debate was a shock to me.” pic.twitter.com/4EoB2yG1J1
— TheBlaze (@theblaze) May 15, 2025
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If I were Jake Sullivan, I would have answered the question this way…
Well, you have to understand that I only get my news from Politico, Joe Scarborough, and Jake Tapper, so I assumed Joe Biden was indeed sharp as a tack, that the best Biden ever was about to run for reelection, and that he was the victim of malicious Republicans ridiculing his stutter.
What I find especially hilarious about this is that Politico brought up the subject at all. What — suddenly, Politico has decided to act like journalists? This is nothing less than the media gaslighting all over again, this time with some BS about them holding people accountable for the cover-up. How stupid are these people?
Ed: They’re not stupid. They think WE’RE stupid. This is all about the absolute contempt that the progressive elite have for the hoi polloi.
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JUST NOW: There are claims about President Trump’s mental decline, but let’s not forget Former President Joe Biden’s moments that raised eyebrows. The media often skipped covering these. pic.twitter.com/jkRY5jsNJw
— Luca Taner (@LucaTaner) May 16, 2025
Ed: Don’t for a moment buy the claim that the media couldn’t know this unless people inside the White House had talked. This five-minute lowlight reel is far from a comprehensive set of publicly aphasiac moments in Biden’s presidency.
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Whatever you think of Jentleson’s decision to go public, it was a shocking break with the “staffer code” that has long ruled Washington underlings’ behavior. Instead of keeping mum, Jentleson shared a close-up view of his boss’ erratic moods and risky behaviors, as well as contemporaneous correspondence where the chief of staff outlined his worries to Fetterman’s medical team.
And in a month of newsy stories about how senior aides handled President Joe Biden’s health and acuity, the breach of confidence may be a sign of things to come on both ends of Pennsylvania Ave.
Ed: Naah. It’s a sign that Fetterman didn’t turn out to be a rubber stamp for progressive interests, while Joe Biden largely was. Fetterman won’t let his aides make decisions that belong to the elected official and won’t buckle under to their demands. Biden didn’t have enough agency to do that. That’s why the aides running Biden — and the officials around him — covered up Biden’s true status: to exercise his power and authority. Jentleson spoke up because Fetterman refused to let him do the same thing.
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PRESIDENT TRUMP: Pam Bondi can release the Biden/Robert Hur tape if she wants.
It’s time. pic.twitter.com/Kh6SoktWj9
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) May 16, 2025
Ed: Get ready for even more evidence of Biden’s decline well before the decision to run for a second term.
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.@SpanbergerforVA watched our country fall apart under a president she knew wasn’t fit to serve and STILL told us everything was fine.
She knew. She lied. And we paid the price. pic.twitter.com/U2NdlcEopy
— Winsome Earle-Sears (@winwithwinsome) May 16, 2025
Ed: This is an absolutely essential strategy for Republicans, because the Protection Racket Media won’t ever hold Democrats accountable for this. Every Democrat incumbent in Congress and incumbent governor should be forced to address this cover-up in the 2026 and 2028 cycles.
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Ed: My post on this is here.
