I can’t say for sure how many times I’ve pointed out that Donald Trump is his own worst enemy, but it’s been several times.
Unfortunately, I have to say it again after his interview with Sean Hannity on Wednesday night, in which Hannity handed Trump an opportunity to explain the declassification process for the documents he had at Mar-a-Lago. Rather than explaining it, he dismissed the idea that he needed to go through a process at all.
“There doesn’t have to be a process as I understand it,” Trump told Hannity. “If you’re the president of the United States, you can declassify, just by saying ‘it’s declassified,’ even by thinking about it.”
Arguing that a president can declassify documents by mere thought is an absurd argument to make. Trump is suggesting that as long as he identifies a document as being declassified, it is — which is almost as ridiculous as when a biological male identifies as a woman and insists that he is therefore a female. That’s not how it works.
On top of that, we know Trump went through the proper process to declassify documents relating to Crossfire Hurricane — so why make such a bizarre claim that the mainstream media is (rightfully) mocking for being absurd?
“You’re sending it to Mar-A-Lago or to wherever you’re sending it. There doesn’t have to be a process. There can be a process, but there doesn’t have to be. You’re the president, you make that decision, When you send it, it’s declassified. I declassified everything,” Trump added.
This argument, that the removal of the documents from the White House was a de facto declassification, is a far better argument to make, especially since the documents were reportedly packed by the General Services Administration (GSA) before they were sent to Mar-a-Lago, but it’s still arguably unnecessary since we know that he went through the proper procedures to declassify the Crossfire Hurricane files.
But that’s Trump for you. He’s rarely ever in a hole that he doesn’t want to unnecessarily dig himself deeper into.
When Trump makes statements like the one that a president can declassify documents “even by thinking about it,” it just doesn’t sound good. I don’t doubt that Trump was doing the right thing by declassifying Crossfire Hurricane documents, ensuring that the Biden administration wouldn’t destroy evidence implicating Obama administration officials (particularly those now working for the Biden administration) in the Russian collusion hoax, but Trump can’t seem to stick to a story. He has to embellish.
Frankly, it’s enough to give Trump supporters pause about his potential 2024 run.
There’s no doubt in my mind that Trump is the target of a politicized investigation (multiple ones, really) and the Biden administration has weaponized the Department of Justice in the hopes of thwarting his 2024 presidential run, but Trump’s running off at the mouth makes the more disciplined and politically savvy Ron DeSantis a far more attractive option in 2024. I’d like to see Trump get his vengeance on the left, which has tried so hard to stop him, but how many unforced errors has Trump made compared to DeSantis? Has DeSantis even made any?
In the immediate aftermath of the raid on Mar-a-Lago, I, like many Trump voters, found myself more motivated than ever to support him again in 2024. But, little by little, Trump keeps reminding me why I may find myself significantly more comfortable supporting DeSantis should he run.
