I had another series of interviews on Friday about the possible Trump-Russia collusion revealed by a June 2016 meeting between Donald Trump’s top advisors — Donald Trump Jr., Jared Kushner, and Paul Manafort — with a Kremlin-linked attorney.
The discussions included conversations with BBC outlets and Voice of Islam Radio about the latest developments and the political and legal significance, predicting Donald Trump Sr.’s eventual demise from “death by a 1000 political cuts”. But there was also a touch of the surreal in my debate on BBC Radio Ulster with a Trump supporter from Texas, Blanquita Cullum, following an excellent overview by New York Times reporter Stephen Erlanger.
Listen to Debate
In the 20-minute discussion, Cullum does not offer a single fact. Despite the efforts of host William Crawley and me, she even refuses four times to answer the opening question, “Do you believe Donald Trump Jr.’s e-mails are authentic?”. Instead, there is a litany of conspiracy theories — the Democrats set up the Trump Jr.-Russia meeting to trap the Trump campaign — attacks on journalists, and loud diversions, culminating in her appeal to the Constitution.
So how did I respond to this flight from reality?
Listen to Discussion on BBC Radio London
I had a far more amiable discussion with Eddie Nestor, setting out the story to date and explaining the “death by a 100 political cuts” of a Trump Administration is now paralyzed by the revelations and expanding investigation:
Even if Trump stays in office, he is now being seen as an ineffective President, both at home and abroad.
Listen from 15:08 to British Forces Broadcasting System
Donald Trump could tell his supporters that poison is fine French wine and they would say, “Ummmm, this tastes good.”