On Saturday, the executive editor of Bloomberg Opinion , Tim O’Brien, appeared on MSNBC to share his thoughts on the latest development in the impeachment probe into President Donald Trump , reports Raw Story .
O’Brien — who is also Trump’s biographer , having authored books such as TrumpNation: The Art of Being the Donald — said that the president is a “performance artist” who only cares about “being center stage.”
“Donald Trump is a performance artist,” he said.
“He doesn’t care about public policy or the public good. He cares about being center stage and he is profoundly aware the power of television and how people can be influenced by others in front of a screen who have credibility,” the author added.
According to O’Brien, this is the main reason the president surrounded himself with military advisers. The author explained that Trump likely sees military men as “macho” and “authoritative,” and probably believes that they lend him credibility, changing how the American public perceives him.
Ironically, according to O’Brien, Trump’s decision to surround himself with military advisers could be what brings him down in the end.
The author explained to MSNBC that the military advisers Trump hired to appear “macho” and in control are now turning against him and revealing damaging information pertaining to his allegedly inappropriate contacts with the Ukrainian government, which are now at the heart of the House Democrats’ impeachment probe.
Now, the author said, “those very people” will testify before the American public, and explain that the president “was the ringleader of an extortion scheme.”
According to O’Brien, Trump wanted to “weaken” Ukraine in order to help Russia, which makes him a national security threat. His military advisers, the author suggested, understand this, which is why they are willing to testify and help House Democrats build a solid impeachment case.
Praising “non-partisan” members of the Trump administration willing to testify before the United States Congress, O’Brien said that they, unlike the president, “care about civil service.”
Their years of government work and civil service “got upended by someone pursuing something that was entirely self-serving,” according to O’Brien, which is why they feel compelled to testify.
A number of current and former Trump administration officials will be summoned to testify before Congress, and the hearings will be televised, which apparently irks some Republicans.
President Trump: “They shouldn’t be having public hearings. This is a hoax. This is just like the Russian witch hunt.” pic.twitter.com/n0vRa29xgT
— The Hill (@thehill) November 8, 2019
For weeks, GOP lawmakers have been criticizing top Democrats in the House of Representatives for allegedly not conducting their investigations in a transparent manner, blasting the highest-ranking Democrats in the lower chamber for holding behind-closed-doors hearings.
Now, Republicans are complaining about the fact that the hearings will be televised, and arguing that the inquiry does not deserve the attention it is getting.