According to a report from Axios, Donald Trump is lashing out at almost everyone close to him who doesn’t play along with his baseless, futile conspiracy theories about his election loss to President-elect Joe Biden. The recipients of Trump’s wrath is lengthy, including Vice President Mike Pence, chief of staff Mark Meadows, White House counsel Pat Cipollone, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.
“Trump thinks everyone around him is weak, stupid or disloyal — and increasingly seeks comfort only in people who egg him on to overturn the election results,” the report states. “We cannot stress enough how unnerved Trump officials are by the conversations unfolding inside the White House.”
“Trump is lashing out, and everyone is in the blast zone: At this point, if you’re not in the “use the Department of Homeland Security or the military to impound voting machines” camp, the president considers you weak and beneath contempt,” the report continues.
Oh, but the juicy part is that Trump feels betrayed by Mike Pence. A narcissist eventually turns on his supply, and Pence has been mostly silent over Trump’s attempted coup. And an ad from the Lincoln Project featuring Pence appears to have gotten under Trump’s thin skin.
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“A source who spoke to Trump said the president was complaining about Pence and brought up a Lincoln Project ad that claims that Pence is “backing away” from Trump,” Axios’s Jonathan Swan reports. “This ad has clearly got inside Trump’s head, the source said.”
“Trump views Pence as not fighting hard enough for him — the same complaint he uses against virtually everybody who works for him and has been loyal to him,” Swan reports. “Pence’s role on Jan. 6 has begun to loom large in Trump’s mind, according to people who’ve discussed the matter with him.”
“Trump would view Pence performing his constitutional duty — and validating the election result — as the ultimate betrayal,” the report adds.
Here’s the ad that has made Trump paranoid about his vice-president:
As vice president, Pence has the extremely awkward but unavoidable duty of presiding over the session of Congress that will formalize Joe Biden’s Electoral College victory on January 6, and that has to be getting to Trump, who has been trying to cling to power. And while everyone close to Trump has been in his crosshairs, crazy Kraken lawyer Sidney Powell seems to have the president’s ear.
I’ll leave you with this:
Giuliani can say all of this but I’ve spent the past four days on the phone to Trump aides and the consensus is that the president is listening to Sidney Powell more than just about anyone who is on his payroll, certainly more than his own White House Counsel. https://t.co/7oWtuZDtEQ
— Jonathan Swan (@jonathanvswan) December 22, 2020
You can read the full report here.
Featured image via Political Tribune gallery
