We must wonder if President Donald Trump regrets his recent two-day interview with ABC's George Stephanopoulos.
Not only did that interview give us Trump's now-famous comments that he'd be happy to accept dirt on any political opponent from any foreign power, but it also gives us ample opportunity to see him lie many more times. And to see pretty clearly how his staff apparently shields him from unpleasant information. Take candidate polls, for example.
Stephanopoulos: "Even your own polls show you behind, don't they?"
Trump: "No. My polls say that I'm winning everywhere."
Stephanopoulos: We've all seen these reports that say in 15 out of 17 states ... ."
Trump: "Those polls don't exist."
They do. And after Trump, during the interview, called an aide to ask about them, things began to happen. Over the weekend, The New York Times reported that the Trump campaign fired some of its pollsters "after leaks of dismal results," according to the headline.
That internal polling, taken in March, showed Biden ahead of Trump in a number of key, swing or traditionally red states: Virginia by 17 points, Minnesota by 14 points, Georgia by 6 points, Iowa by 7 points, Maine by 15 points, North Carolina by 8 points and Ohio by 1 point. Biden also held double-digit leads (+10 to +13) in Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Florida - all states Trump carried in 2016.
Trump may still insist the polls are fake or wrong or old, but they remain consistent with recent other polls.
A new NBC/Wall Street Journal poll puts Trump's approval rating at only 44%, and 52% of respondents said they would be "very uncomfortable" voting for him in 2020.
A Fox News poll with head-to-head numbers indicates Trump would lose to Joe Biden - and to several other Democratic hopefuls. Voters put Biden ahead of Trump by 10 points (49% to 39%), Bernie Sanders ahead by 9 points (49% to 40%), Elizabeth Warren in front by 2 points (43% to 41%), Kamala Harris ahead by 1 point (42% to 41%) and Pete Buttigieg in front by 1 point (41% to 40%).
To this, Trump tweeted: "@FoxNews Polls are always bad for me. They were against Crooked Hillary also. Something weird going on at Fox. Our polls show us leading in all 17 Swing States. ... ."
Stephanopoulos also talked with Trump about Special Counsel Robert Mueller and his probe of Russian interference in the 2016 campaign.
Trump to Stephanopoulos: "Article II [of the Constitution] allows me to do whatever I want. ... [It] would have allowed me to fire Robert Mueller ... He wasn't fired."
No. Article II of the Constitution does not allow Trump (or any president) to do anything he wants. Article II also states the president "shall not receive" payments or gifts from foreign governments. What's more, the 20th and 25th amendments to Article II provide methods for removing a president from office. Perhaps aides didn't read that part to the president.
There was more.
Trump to Stephanopoulos: "I have a phony witch hunt, which is a phony pile of stuff ... Mueller comes out - there's no collusion ... "
No. Robert Muller on May 29 in a news conference at the Department of Justice, said: "The Russian military launched a concerted attack on our political system. ... The indictments allege, and the other activities that our report describe, efforts to interfere in our political system. ... There was insufficient evidence to charge a broader conspiracy."
Stephanopoulos: "He didn't say there's no collusion and he laid out evidence [for Congress to examine regarding obstruction] ... "
Trump, interrupting: "George, the report said 'no collusion' and he didn't find anything that was obstruction."
Stephanopoulos: "He didn't examine 'collusion.' ... Did you read the report?"
Trump: "Yes, I did. You should read it, too."
Mueller on May 29 also said: "Under longstanding department [DOJ] policy, a current president cannot be charged with a federal crime If we had had confidence that the president clearly didn't commit a crime we would have said so."
Trump to Stephanopoulos: "Look. The Republicans in the Senate, every single one of them that I see, know this is a witch hunt. They get it 100%. And that's what matters. The Democrats are going to do it only because they might think it helps them. I think it actually hurts them in the election. ... "
This brings us back to polls. A lesser reported Fox News poll question was "Do you think President Trump should be impeached and removed from office, or not? Answer: 43% said yes, 50% said no, 6% said don't know.
A new NBC poll taken between June 8 and June 11 found 27 percent now support beginning impeachment hearings - a bounce up in just one month of 10 points. Another 48 percent said they do not support beginning hearings yet.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has held firm that she isn't ruling out a call for hearings, but would have to see "overwhelming" public support. Meanwhile, 67 house members are now on board with impeachment.
Just keep talking, Mr. President. If your mouth is moving, you're forcing - one way or another - a 2020 reckoning.