[T]here was quiet concern within the campaign, where aides took note of daily tracking numbers from Rasmussen Reports, a typically rosy assessment of how the president is faring, that showed support falling after the tax report. Among Mr. Trump’s circle, there was finger-pointing about how the issue was handled and a hesitancy to discuss with him an issue they know he is sensitive about.
Even Rasmussen…
Needless to say, nobody could ever talk to him about this. But let’s not forget that they did more than that. They enabled him to hide those returns on several levels. They fought the congressional demand for the taxes, despite the clear language of the statute that allowed them to get them. They have fought state and local prosecutors subpoenas for his financial records, using spurious arguments that aren’t worthy of anyone with a law degree. And they have ignored his massive graft and corruption as president and decided his monumental conflicts of interest and vulnerability to blackmail and bribes from foreign actors isn’t as important as getting one more judge on the federal bench.
Oh, and the Mueller team didn’t look at Trump’s finances because they were so afraid of being fired if they did and that’s just sad.
It’s fairly obvious that nobody wanted to confront him about any of it. In fact, they were fine with it. So here he is, on the verge of re-election and now he’s been exposed as the tax cheat he is. I don’t expect any Republican officials to say a word about it. And his voters will stick with him. But it could persuade a handful of undecided voters that he’s even worse than they thought. Maybe.