Donald Trump's former campaign manager went on the offensive today when he joined George Stephanopoulos on GMA. Serving as the dutiful foot soldier, Lewandowski squinted, unblinking, asserting complete fealty to the very man who fired him.
Corey says that he is pretty sure that Trump is going to have a "private conversation with Sessions" in the next few days. Yeah, if he can squeeze it in between golf and angry subtweeting AT Sessions. I mean, it isn't like he has much to do these days. If he just stopped tweeting for 10 minutes, he can probably squeeze in a quick chat with his best friend and first official GOP backer. Right?
Trying to explain away Trump's 5 days spree of juvenile, bullying subtweets, Lewandowski said:
"I don't think he's humiliating Jeff Sessions."
He didn't say whether he thinks Trump will actually fire him (or shame him into quitting) but he did say "I think the president is going to have that conversation with Senator Sessions. I know the president is thankful for the work that Jeff has done."
And we all know how much Trump appreciates loyalty (spoiler: he doesn't, see Chris Christie).
Just a reminder, Trump has been on a tear about Sessions, both over twitter, in print interviews and at every possible lectern and podium he can get his tiny hands wrapped around.
Just Tuesday, during a press conference with the leader of Lebanon, Trump took the opportunity to rant at his own Attorney General.
"He should not have recused himself almost immediately after he took office, and if he was going to recuse himself, he should have told me prior to taking office, and I would have, quite simply, picked somebody else. So I think that's a bad thing, not for the president, but for the presidency. I think it's unfair to the presidency, and that's the way I feel. We will see what happens. Time will tell. Time will tell."
Nothing like the threat of being fired to get someone to quit.
Oh, and about that whole "firing Mueller thing?"
Lewandowski: If the president wants to fire Robert Mueller, then by all accounts he has the legal authority to do so. He could have done that on day one, he could have done that today.
Stephanopoulos: Actually, Corey, right now that's not true. Right now it's the acting attorney general, Rod Rosenstein, that has that authority.
Lewandowski: No, George, you're wrong. The president has a legal authority to fire Robert Mueller if he wants to. Now, Robert Mueller reports to Rod Rosenstein. But Rod Rosenstein could also be terminated. Look, the Constitution is very clear. The president is the chief executive of this country and has the ability to hire and fire executives who work for him, and that would be the case with either Rob Rosenstein if he chose to, and he's not doing that, or Robert Mueller.
It's pretty clear the path we are going down...Sessions quits or gets fired. Then Trump orders Rosenstein to fire Mueller. Rosenstein either quits and Trump goes down the line to get Mueller fired or Rosenstein falls in line and fires Mueller.
The question is this: What will the GOP do when that happens? Not if, but when. It is pretty obvious that Trump believes he is fully above the law and can do anything he wants, and up until this point, he has been able to get away with it. Is Mueller the final straw or will the GOP express their "concern" but turn their backs?