Trump yells about his enemies and challengers on Twitter. It’s what he does. I can’t count the number of times he’s referred to Mueller’s special investigation as a “witch hunt.” He’s publicly ripped into what seems like every member of his own cabinet as well as any political commentator who ever dares insult or question him. Picking a fight and taking the bait is his modus operandi.
So why the total radio silence when it comes to Stormy Daniels, who’s been completely controlling the narrative by being the only member of the alleged two-person affair describing what happened? Why is Trump holding back?
Plainly, it’s because he’s got something to lose by violating the hush agreement he allegedly didn’t but definitely did sign with her (or rather, negotiated with her - Stormy’s argument for why she doesn’t have to obey is that he never did sign it). What can that be?
He hasn’t been successful at actually silencing her, and all the legal threats in the world haven’t been able to make her back down. She appears impervious to his lawyers, and had gone so far as to take a polygraph test to make her case (although I will be fair and acknowledge that a polygraph test is hardly conclusive by any standards).
The story had even come out before - Stormy has been claiming for years that she’s had an affair with Trump - but he considered it very important to keep the story quiet right before the election. The reason is obvious: if it’s true, he really thinks that could be a blow to his support group.
It’s difficult initially to understand why the Stormy Daniels story would be so scary to Trump - after all, he already had the Access Hollywood leak by that point. But then again, that’s it, isn’t it? The Access Hollywood tape leaked Oct. 7. Cohen signed the hush agreement with Daniels October 28, at the end of the month. That suggests that Stormy initially planned to come out and identify as one of those girls Trump would freely grab by the pussy, but was silenced by Trump’s lawyers out of fear that a double-whammy to his public image would be enough to lose him the election. Locker room talk was defendable, and that phrase was thrown around heavily in the days after the leak.
But cheating on your wife who just gave birth? Having unprotected sex with a mistress you offered a television role to while your wife is at home caring for your newborn son? Well, that’s a little different.
Now, here’s the point where we’re at. Stormy has given us a wealth of information suggesting that this has taken place, and at this point, I’m compelled to believe something did happen. But Trump’s base is not compelled to believe it happened, because they follow his command.
And with total radio silence from Trump, they’re not being given a clear message of what to say. They are aware that he normally battles his opponents and challengers openly and bombastically. As long as he stays silent, they can believe he’s above the issue, that it’s not real. Once he starts putting together a story, that’s when they can see blatant holes in his version of events.
Trump is supposed to be a God-fearing man, according to a large portion of his base. There’s only so much sinning he can get away with before they realize they’ve been conned.