This morning's Fox & Friends phone-in: vintage VSG

The Very Stable Genius was in rare form this morning. Maybe he was tired of having to be mindful of being articulate during the Macron state visit. In any case, he cut loose and gave us a taste of what got his slavish devotees all fired up in 2015:

President Donald Trump appeared to acknowledge Thursday for the first time that his attorney Michael Cohen represented him as part of a payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels.

"He represents me like with this crazy Stormy Daniels deal, he represented me. And from what I see, he did absolutely nothing wrong," Trump said in a phone interview on "Fox and Friends."

Trump's mention of the scandal engulfing Cohen was part of a breathless and nearly half-hour free-flowing rant on the cable news show, in which the president touched on everything from North Korea to rapper Kanye West to Dr. Ronny Jackson, who had moments earlier withdrew his nomination to head the Department of Veterans Affairs.

His penchant for couching his role in things in a way that makes it sound like he has to be told what that role is was on display:

Trump on Thursday was adamant that whatever federal authorities are investigating, "I've been told I'm not involved."

His materialism came through, as well as his thoughtless approach to being a husband. I mean, couldn't he have said a word or two about what she means to him on her birthday?:

 He began by mentioning that Thursday is the 48th birthday of his wife and first lady, Melania Trump, and that's why he was calling in. He admitted: "Maybe I didn't get her so much. I got her a beautiful card."

 With regard to the Pompeo - Kim meeting over Easter weekend, he says basically, yeah, everybody involved kind of said why not, and put it together on the spur of the moment:

Trump said that CIA Director Mike Pompeo, who has been nominated to be secretary of state, wasn't supposed to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, but that "they arranged ... while he was there to say hello."

At least this week anyway, Kanye West is "smart." (In VSG world, people basically fall into two categories; they're either "smart" or they're "losers.") He plays the identity politics card, assuming that that is why Kanye likes him:

On rapper West, who tweeted positively about the president: "I have known Kanye a little bit, and I get along with Kanye ... but Kanye looks and sees black unemployment at the lowest it's been at the history of our country. He sees Hispanic unemployment at the lowest it has been in the history of our country. He sees, by the way, female unemployment, women unemployment, the lowest it has been in now almost 19 years. He sees that stuff and he is smart."

This one makes you really, really wonder about the guy. He doesn't have time, but he always watches:

On watching the media:"Now frankly, I don't have time for two reasons. It's too much and I don't have time, but I would watch whether it's good or bad. I always watch." 

And that's a rhetorical turn that bears some pondering. Not having time is a reason for not having time.


This one won't surprise you at all. Now, if he'd shown an ounce of humility or given credit to the entire team, that would have been a man-bites-dog story:

On what grade he should get after a year in office: "I would give myself an A-plus. Nobody has done what I have been able to do, and I did it — despite the fact that I have a phony cloud over my head that doesn’t exist."

But this one may be the wildest blurting of the whole thing - for one, because the Electoral College is how he won, but two, because some of his slavish devotees fancy themselves as conservatives - i.e., people who understand the importance of the Electoral College:

President Donald Trump on Thursday voiced support for doing away with the Electoral College for presidential elections in favor of a popular vote because the latter would be “much easier to win.”

The president’s support for a popular-vote presidential election came as an aside during a freewheeling Thursday morning interview with “Fox & Friends,” the Fox News morning show he is known to watch and from which he receives almost unflinchingly positive coverage. Trump made the remark amid a larger point about public figures who publicly support him in turn benefiting from a boost of popularity from Trump supporters.

I believe the guy when he says he doesn't drink. But does anybody who falls anywhere within the most generous range of what's normal talk like this without some kind of agent besides his own biochemistry being involved?