Reid warns Democrats not to underestimate Trump

Former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) is warning Democrats not to underestimate President Trump in 2020.

“I used to think that Donald Trump was not too smart. I certainly don't believe that anymore,” Reid told CNN’s David Axelrod during an interview on “The Axe Files” aired late Saturday.

“I don't think he's intellectually a powerhouse, but he is basically a very, very smart man,” he added. “No matter what the subject, any argument he involves himself in, it's on his terms. You're always arguing against him. He never, never willing to debate an issue on terms that aren’t his.”

When asked what advice he would give to a candidate running against Trump, Reid responded: “Well, what I say initially and I say it right here in your show, anyone that thinks Trump's going to be beaten easily should have another think coming.”

Reid also weighed in on the Ukraine scandal that’s sparked an impeachment inquiry against Trump, saying the president’s actions can’t go “unpunished.”

Reid said the “evidence is very clear” that Trump was withholding aid to Ukraine to pressure its president to investigate 2020 presidential candidate Joe Biden and his son.

After Axelrod noted there is “almost zero chance” Trump would be convicted in the upper chamber, Reid also said he is disappointed with what the Senate has become.

“I'm also tremendously disappointed in what the Republican senators have not become. They have not become the Mark Hatfields of the world, the John Chafees, the John Hines who are Republican senators who did what they thought was the right thing to do,” he said.

“And we have these Republicans who are afraid to speak out against things that he does that are absolutely wrong and they know they're wrong. The only person we've gotten to say anything is Mitt Romney and [Ben] Sasse who said something out of Nebraska. Other than that, they don't say anything.”

I’m not sure what you mean by McConnell using the Senate to support the president.
He can’t dictate to the House to stop the impeachment inquiry. He can’t deal with the impeachment until he has something to deal with. The House so far has flailed around trying to make a case that the “whistleblower” knows more than the unredacted transcript of the president’s phone call but is failing badly to do that.

If you’re inferring from McConnell’s lack of action before there is anything to take action on, that he is for impeachment and wants to hamstring the president, that is your opinion.

The Dems aren’t “flailing around.” They are running a carefully choreographed coup against POTUS. The Dem House isn’t even running an official impeachment proceeding. There is absolutely no reason McConnell couldn’t do something similar in the Senate in support of a POTUS of his own party who is currently being assaulted by a seditious coup.

You don’t find it a bit odd that so often supposedly the best course of action for the GOP is doing nothing? They sure are good at that.

Speak for yourself. What’s this “we” crap? Like we’re some big club with secret decoder rings and all? Voting like mindless robots?

“We” don’t have to accept your opinion that the GOP is a willing participant in the coup against the president. That’s your opinion, not mine.

So I’ll say it again for the last time. I DO NOT AGREE WITH YOUR ASSERTION.

Have a great day.

Did Senator Graham publicly threaten POTUS to not fire the hopelessly recused Sessions? Yep. Did Rosenstein then use his position as defacto AG to allow Mueller’s police state tactics against POTUS and his supporters? Affirmative again.

These are historical facts. The GOP has assisted in the coup against POTUS and that certainly has nothing to do with me.

And you have a great day too!

I'm not sure where to even start but I'll try.

First, you lambast Mitch McConnell for being covertly for impeaching Trump because he's not doing something right now. But you give no evidence to back up your opinion other than he's not doing something. Right now, the Senate is not even in session and hasn't been for two weeks and McConnell is home recovering from a broken shoulder.

Then you switch to the line that the entire GOP is for Trump's impeachment like the democRATS are but again, you provide no evidence of that other than your assertion that they are not doing something right now.

So now you have switched to just a single senator, Graham, and cite something he said two years ago. Just three days ago, he warned House democRATS that impeachment is "dead on arrival", his own words, in the Senate. Impeachment based on the Mueller Report, DOA. Impeachment based on the Ukraine phone call, DOA. The Senate will not remove him from office, he says. Even he can see that the House is conducting this circus in a secret fashion that doesn't withstand scrutiny.

He is also on the record saying he plans to ask other Senate Republicans to sign a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, saying Senate Republicans do not believe the transcript of the phone call between President Trump and the Ukranian President is an impeachable offense.

And none of that Rosenstein, Mueller argument holds water now because it is a moot point. And that as you say yourself, "is historical fact".

So I doubt Lindsay Graham is the guy you should use to hang your hat on for proving your point. He is in Trump's corner right now.

There may be some GOP Senators that would vote to convict if it ever got to the Senate. That royal flake, Jeff Flake, says there are 35 Senators who will vote to convict. Oh, but I forgot. He turned tail and quit when he realized he wasn't going to win his reelection. Maybe Romney, maybe Murkowski, maybe Sasse, maybe a couple more like Snowe. But your assertion was that the entire GOP is for his impeachment. That simply is not true.

And finally you claim none of this "certainly has nothing to do with 'me' ", meaning you. Either take responsibility for your opinion, assertions, accusations, or whatever you want to call them, or don't but you can't have it both ways.

Personally, I doubt whether the House will impeach Trump. They are in disarray right now. Schiffty has lied multiple times about his involvement with the so-called "whistleblower". He plain made-up the wording of the phone call and lied about it in the hearing. This is the Kavanaugh hearings all over again, just different players and a different target, Trump.

I mean, who would believe a "whistleblower" who is a partisan democRAT in all regards, who's worked directly for one of the democRAT presidential candidates, who got assistance from Shiffty's staff to write the complaint, didn't hear the phone call first-hand and only heard hearsay, gossip and rumors from others by hanging around the CIA water cooler in the hallway, and won't testify openly but in a pre-written letter so there can be no rebuttal and claims to be getting death threats when he remains anonymous? The whistleblower complaint form was changed in August (how convenient) to allow second and third party hearsay instead of first hand knowledge. And his complaint is vastly different from the transcript Trump released. None of what they are doing is holding water so far.

If the House does vote articles of impeachment against Trump, it will stop in the Senate, his poll numbers will rise, fundraising will go through the roof and he will handily win reelection in 2020.

I'm done. I have had pneumonia for two weeks now and spent three days in the VA hospital this last week and don't feel playing any more games. Good night.

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