Trump is the only one being honest about the Supreme Court fight

His shameless cynicism is illuminating here

President Trump.
(Image credit: Illustrated | Getty Images, iStock)

Donald Trump is a terrible president in all kinds of ways, but his shameless cynicism is sometimes more illuminating than the high-minded posturing that so often dominates our politics.

Asked on Monday about Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's vow to bring Trump's nominee to succeed Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg to a floor vote despite taking the opposite tack four years ago with Barack Obama's choice to succeed the recently deceased Justice Antonin Scalia, the president didn't respond by trying to parse or adjust the "rule" McConnell enunciated to justify his actions in 2016 so that it could apply to the current situation. He merely stated a blunt fact: "When you have the votes, you can sort of do what you want."

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Damon Linker

Damon Linker is a senior correspondent at TheWeek.com. He is also a former contributing editor at The New Republic and the author of The Theocons and The Religious Test.