Well, this news cycle can’t possibly get any dumber, can it?
Last night, Buzzfeed dropped a bombshell story that, if corroborated, will probably doom the spiraling shitshow of the Trump presidency. Trump, according to the website’s sources, told his lawyer Michael Cohen to lie to Congress about Trump’s efforts to build a tower in Moscow, and Robert Mueller’s got the receipts. If that’s true—Trump’s people are denying it, and (Friday night update!) the Special Counsel’s Office just poured a bunch of cold water on it—that’s not only felony obstruction of justice, but it also echoes the first article of impeachment against Richard Nixon.
In other words, it’s bad.
Not to mention, that story comes with Trump’s poll numbers already in the toilet, the Mueller investigation in full, merciless swing, and the federal government having been shut down for nearly a month. Which is to say, this isn’t a time you’d think many politicians, even die-hard Republicans, would be eager to attach themselves to the president’s hip.
But most politicians are not North Carolina House Speaker Tim Moore.
This afternoon, for what I’m sure are reasons that sounded good in his head, Moore sent Trump a letter inviting him to deliver his State of the Union address in North Carolina.
Trump, you’ll recall, was disinvited from giving the SOTU earlier this week by Nancy Pelosi, who said the ongoing shutdown would make security arrangements difficult. (Trump retaliated by barring her from taking a military plane to Afghanistan.) That means Trump is either going to have to deliver his speech in writing (and not get the huge TV audience), wait until the government reopens to give it, or find a different venue.
And that’s where Moore would like to come in.
It is my sincere pleasure as the Speaker of the North Carolina House of Representatives to invite you to deliver your second State of the Union Address in our chamber of this state’s General Assembly. …
I also believe taking your message outside of the nation’s gilded capital to a state government venue reflects the priorities of your administration, and those of our Congress, to create success not only for federal institutions and programs but for the American people they serve.
North Carolina, like Washington D.C., has a balanced government that provides opportunity for all voices to be heard through dialogue rather than division. Our rapidly growing state is one of the 10 most populous in the nation and a welcoming place for all, including more than a million active-duty members of the military and brave veterans.
During this critical period for leaders of our country to listen to one another, reach compromises on disagreements, and resolve to work together to reopen our nation’s government, it is essential that citizens of the United States hear directly from their elected President on these efforts.
No word yet on whether Trump will consider Moore’s offer—or, for that matter, whether Trump wants to be seen anywhere near Moore, who himself has faced some recent ethics questions, including whether his legislative office improperly interfered with state regulators to assist with the speaker’s business venture, which the FBI is now looking into.
So he and Trump do have something in common, I suppose.
Here’s the N.C. Democratic Party’s response:
“We know Speaker Moore is desperate to distract from today’s news that the FBI is looking into his shady ethics, but he should be using his office to advocate for those hurt by the government shutdown not push a political stunt. This shutdown is hurting people trying to recover from recent hurricanes and forcing schools to ration our kid’s lunches, and every North Carolina public official should be working to end it today.”
