Former Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO) explained that President Donald Trump's world is collapsing around him because he's been lying to himself for so long that now he's being forced to face the reality of the coronavirus pandemic.
A new report from the Washington Post revealed that Trump only started to care about the pandemic when he was shown maps and data that his voters in Republican states were dying from the virus.
"This is a president who just refused to listen to the science," McCaskill explained. "He refused to accept the science. And two realities are present now: One, it didn't disappear; and Two, it moved from blue states to red states. And now he is blocked, boxed, trapped. Instead of leading, he is folding. He is capitulating. And that's what these voters are seeing in these red states. And particularly the elderly voters in Georgia, in Texas, in Florida, in North Carolina."
She noted that states are finally realizing that Trump blew it and now everyone is "in big trouble."
"And he really has no way out of this mess, because it's a matter of leadership, the chaotic leadership is costing lives and the people in these states know it," McCaskill continued.
Another Washington Post report cited the Trump University scandal, where he was so desperate to deny a problem instead of fixing it. He's since used the tactic many, many times, even during the COVID-19 crisis.
"Why did the country have to be Donald Trump's version of what a normal person might have dealt with in therapy?" asked MSNBC host Nicolle Wallace.
"Because he never thought about this, as a moment of leadership, to do the right thing based on science and protecting the health of Americans," McCaskill answered. "He always looked at it as, 'how can this help me? How can I avoid having this impact my re-election?' It is -- I mean, look at the conventions. this is a perfect example, Nicolle."
She explained that early on Democrats listened to the science and began looking for other options. Trump flailed everywhere, moving his convention from North Carolina to Florida before he was finally forced to cancel it.
"There has not been chaos around the Democrats," said McCaskill. "There hasn't even been that much coverage of the Democrats canceling their convention. Meanwhile, Trump has wasted millions of dollars, weeks with the Charlotte and then Florida and 'Oh, we're going on and we're going to have a big -- we're going to build stages outside and it's going to be great!' And then he's trapped by reality. And he looks like a fool. And that's happening in Florida."
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