Former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid “does not have long to live,” New York Times Magazine‘s Mark Leibovich states bluntly, but that doesn’t appear to have had any impact on the curmudgeonly ex-senator’s famously sharp tongue. He’s just as combative and surly as ever, and had some harsh things to say about President Trump in a rare interview since being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in May.
In addition to making clear to Leibovich during their sit-down in early December that he would not win the battle with cancer — stating in painfully inexorable terms, “As soon as you discover you have something on your pancreas, you’re dead” — Reid offered his thoughts on Trump, whom he declared “the worst president we’ve ever had.”
Reid’s comments on Trump were prompted by Leibovich asking if he agreed with fired FBI Director James Comey’s description of Trump as a mafia godfather. Reid suggested that was a bit too complimentary.
“Organized crime is a business, and they are really good with what they do. But they are better off when things are predictable,” said Reid. “In my opinion, they do not do well with chaos. And that’s what we have going with Trump.”
Trump, Reid added, is an “interesting person” because he supposedly lacks a conscience.
“He is not immoral but is amoral,” said Reid. “Amoral is when you shoot someone in the head, it doesn’t make a difference. No conscience.”
Leibovich notes that there was “a hint of grudging respect in Reid’s tone,” but that the former senator “seemed to catch and correct” it.
“I think he is without question the worst president we’ve ever had,” Reid said. “We’ve had some bad ones, and there’s not even a close second to him. He’ll lie. He’ll cheat. You can’t reason with him.”
But again, “a hint of wonder crept into his voice,” writes Leibovich, “as if he was describing a rogue beast on the loose in a jungle that Reid knows well.”
That “jungle,” suggests the author, is one that Reid played a role in creating, as one of the politicians who repeatedly demonstrated that he’s willing to play “dirty” to push his agenda, including against a man who was about as opposite of Trump as one can imagine: Mitt Romney.
“I was always willing to do things that others were not willing to do,” Reid told Leibovich, who then highlights one particularly infamous moment from Reid’s combative career. During the 2012 presidential campaign, Reid claimed, “with no proof,” that Romney hadn’t paid taxes in a decade. Romney eventually released his taxes and proved Reid’s claim to be a blatant lie. Called out on it, Reid told CNN, “Romney didn’t win, did he?”
Another problematic part of Reid’s legacy, Leibovich points out, is his game-changing choice to nuke the filibuster for judicial appointments, which has paved the way for Republicans to load up the courts, including the Supreme Court, with conservative judges.
Reid defended his precedent-defying action, telling the interviewer: “They can say what they want. We had over 100 judges that we couldn’t get approved, so I had no choice. Either Obama’s presidency would be a joke or Obama’s presidency would be one of fruition.”
H/T Daily Beast