Former Attorney General William Barr’s new book is notable in its criticisms of Donald Trump. As we’ve discussed, the Republican lawyer, who was almost comically loyal to the former president during his tenure, felt compelled to tell readers about his former boss’ temperament, pettiness, and brazen lies about his 2020 election defeat.
Barr now believes Trump “cared only about one thing: himself. Country and principle took second place.”
Barr also sees the former president as an “incorrigible” narcissist whose post-election lies did “a disservice to the nation.” He now wants his party to look to new leaders who lack Trump’s “erratic personal behavior.” The idea of Trump running a third national campaign is, as the former attorney general put it, is “dismaying.”
Barr remains a deeply flawed messenger for this message, but his perspective is not irrelevant: From his powerful Justice Department post, Barr saw first hand just how dangerous Trump was.
But he’s apparently prepared to vote for him again anyway. NBC News reported:
Barr, in an interview on Monday morning with NBC’s “TODAY” show, said he doesn’t think Trump should be the GOP nominee and plans to support another Republican candidate. But asked if he would vote for Trump if he wins the party nomination in 2024, Barr suggested he would.
“Because I believe that the greatest threat to the country is the progressive agenda being pushed by the Democratic Party, it’s inconceivable to me that I wouldn’t vote for the Republican nominee,” he said.
Barr didn’t say what it was about the Democratic agenda he doesn’t like, or which Democratic proposals he considers a profound “threat” to the nation.
The timing of the former attorney general’s comments was of particular interest: Trump sent NBC News’ Lester Holt a three-page letter, filled with claims The Washington Post described as “easily debunked nonsense,” that was unsparing in his criticisms of Barr.
The former president described his own former attorney general as “slow,” “worthless,” “lazy,” “a coward,” and someone who “never quite understood what was going on.” This came on the heels of Trump’s earlier criticisms, in which he slammed Barr as a “spineless RINO” and a “disappointment in every sense of the word.” In other words, Barr didn’t just witness Trump’s lies and corruption firsthand, he was also personally insulted and mocked by his former boss. Nevertheless, the Republican lawyer’s partisanship is so overwhelming, he’s willing to overlook all of this and return Trump to the nation’s highest office. That’s extraordinary, but it’s also a sentiment that largely negates everything he’s said about the former president. Barr sees Trump as an unpatriotic liar who tried to steal an election and corrupt our system of government, but he’s also willing to put these inconvenient details aside if Trump is the Republican Party’s 2024 nominee, which suggests his concerns about Trump aren’t all that serious after all.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
Latest Post
Recommended
