Real Talk
Bill Barr reportedly warned Trump swing voters think he's a 'f---ing a--hole' before election
The new book about former President Donald Trump's final days in office, Bob Woodward and Robert Costa's Peril, has already caused some big (if perhaps exaggerated) waves about Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Mark Milley's actions to stop Trump from potentially starting a war to somehow stay in office. But there are "lesser revelations that may be catnip for political junkies," Politico reports, teasing a few "nuggets."
One of them involves former Attorney General William Barr and a "come to Jesus" meeting he had with Trump in April 2020. Barr, who would stay on for most of the rest of Trump's presidency, reportedly saw how the election could go and wanted to give Trump some frank political advice about the "charm offensive" he had to wage to win back the suburbs and "repair work" he had to do with Republicans and independents who liked his policies but not his personality. "They just think you're a f---ing a--hole," Barr reportedly told Trump.
Trump did not take that advice. He told Barr his base wanted him to "fight" for them, Woodward and Costa report. And after Trump lost and Barr told reporters there was no widespread election fraud, Trump reportedly told him, "You must have said that because you hate Trump, you must really hate Trump."
Politico also has tidbits on an unsuccessful push to get Trump to award former President Mike Pence the Presidential Medal of Freedom to patch things up after the Jan. 6 Capitol siege, how President Biden's friendship with Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) unraveled, and more, and you can read them at Politico.