He doesn't need a distraction...he has the votes to do anything he wants, and when you have the media in your back pocket, it makes your claim even more absurd.
What you have here is exactly what it looks like. An extreme liberal kook, who took that step over the line, and was too dumb and arrogant to pull herself back in. Now the Democrats have a real serious problem on their hands and it's escalating rapidly. If the Democrats let this go another news cycle, it could escalate to a point where they won't be able to control or contain it, and don't kid yourself into thinking the Democratic Leadership doesn't understand that.
The dogs of war have been set loose, the window of opportunity has been closed. Now it's the Democrat's move, and the smart move is to reign her in as quick as possible, and let the dogs be called back....but if their stupid....
He has the votes in congress, but not the will of the people. They are waking up and the more he directly stirs the tempest teapot, the bigger his challange to ‘sell it to the people.’ Why bother to sell it, when he can have it passed with distracting We the People.