Memoriesby digby
There are many things in the Wolff book which, if true, are extremely disturbing. But this may be the big revelation:
There was more: Everybody was painfully aware of the increasing pace of his repetitions. It used to be inside of 30 minutes he’d repeat, word-for-word and expression-for-expression, the same three stories — now it was within 10 minutes. Indeed, many of his tweets were the product of his repetitions — he just couldn’t stop saying something…
Donald Trump’s small staff of factotums, advisors and family began, on Jan. 20, 2017, an experience that none of them, by any right or logic, thought they would — or, in many cases, should — have, being part of a Trump presidency. Hoping for the best, with their personal futures as well as the country’s future depending on it, my indelible impression of talking to them and observing them through much of the first year of his presidency, is that they all — 100 percent — came to believe he was incapable of functioning in his job.
At Mar-a-Lago, just before the new year, a heavily made-up Trump failed to recognize a succession of old friends.
and this:
Fox News primetime star Sean Hannity was allegedly willing to provide questions to President Trump in advance of their interview this year, Michael Wolff reported Thursday. In a column excerpting Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House, Wolff explained that—through conversations with top Trump advisers—he discovered that many in the administration view the president as mentally “incapable,” with frequent lapses in memory becoming a cause for concern. Per Wolff, Trump comms aide and confidant Hope Hicks, “attentive to his lapses and repetitions, urged [Trump] to forgo an interview that was set to open the 60 Minutes fall season.”
Instead, Wolff reported, “the interview went to Fox News’ Sean Hannity who, White House insiders happily explained, was willing to supply the questions beforehand. Indeed, the plan was to have all interviewers going forward provide the questions.” Through a Fox News spokesperson, Hannity disputed that account, saying, “I never provided questions ahead of time to any candidate and never said I was going to quit my longtime, successful TV and radio career to work for Trump.” Noting Hannity’s curious use of the word “candidate,” The Daily Beast followed up, clarifying that Wolff’s report alleged the question-feeding occurred during the presidency and not during the Republican campaign. Fox has not yet responded. The White House additionally did not respond to a request for comment.
If any of you have ever gone through the progression of Alzheimer’s disease with a relative, you recognize this as a common symptom. His father had the disease.
On the other hand, according to people who’ve known him for decades, he’s always been this way. He’s a repeater and isn’t good with faces. So who knows?
There is something wrong with him but I’m not convinced that it’s a physical problem. He’s psychologically unfit for the presidency, obviously. That was clear during the campaign. He’s emotionally and psychologically unfit and Wolff’s book is only confirming this from people who have worked with him closely in the White House that he is as he appears.
But everyone knew this. And he won anyway. Indeed, many people voted for him because of these characteristics.
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