After months of silence on Special Counsel Robert Mueller (although not on the investigation), Trump seems to have turned a corner and decided to do everything he can to malign him and his team in order to discredit the investigation into the alleged collusion between the Trump 2016 presidential campaign and Russian government operatives, as well as Trump’s possible obstruction of justice. On Monday morning, Trump was back to insisting that the investigation is biased and partisan, although his reasoning on that conclusion has made little sense.
The similarities between the presidencies of Donald Trump and Richard Nixon are too numerous to be ignored. As Nixon was being investigated and evidence was mounting that he had indeed been part of the cover-up of the illegal break-in of the DNC, Nixon blamed the entire investigation on the mainstream media (Trump: “fake news”), the Democrats (Trump: Obama, Hillary, anyone else who speaks out against him), and called the entire investigation a “witch hunt.” One year later, Nixon resigned from office when the evidence could no longer be denied.
"Nixon Sees 'Witch-Hunt,' Insiders Say"
Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein
July 22, 1973 pic.twitter.com/RZ25MEvcvG— Deacon XIV (@yahooleaks) May 18, 2017
Trump’s strategy is not an original one. With assistance from right-wing media, the president has insisted to his rabid fan base that everyone, from President Obama to Chuck Todd to the FISA court, is conspiring against him. Never once has he acknowledged that some of his own actions, whether or not those actions are later determined to constitute obstruction or collusion, prompted the investigation.
Whether or not he will acknowledge it, there have been too many high-profile firings that have followed statements critical of Russia or supportive of the investigation into Russian collusion, adding to the perception that he may be guilty. For example, Former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson was dismissed immediately following his statement that he believed the Russian government was responsible for the poisonings of Russians who defected to Great Britain and called out the Kremlin’s corruption. Both James Comey and Andrew McCabe can testify that they witnessed Trump’s obstruction of justice, and both were removed from their jobs either by Trump himself or as the result of pressure by Trump to do so.
Trump supporters can continue to point fingers at President Obama, people in Obama’s administration like Susan Rice and Loretta Lynch, the FBI and the entire intelligence community by pushing conspiracy theories about the egregious crimes they’re alleged to have committed, but the truth is that Trump has only himself to blame for this investigation. There is another basic truth, and that is that a belief that everyone is conspiring against you is an indication of paranoia, and paranoia is an indication that one has something to hide.
Twitter had their own thoughts on Trump’s repeated tweets of “witch hunts” and “conflicts of interests.” See some of their responses below:
Featured image via Getty/Pool
