Trump’s Despicable Attack On Mueller After His Death

This article is an amended transcript of a short video from Old Goats with Jonathan Alter.

When I saw that Robert Mueller had died, it made me sad. When I saw that Donald Trump, just moments later, said he was glad he was dead, it made me sick.

Speaking of sick, who says “I’m glad he’s dead” publicly? A sick, deranged, despicable person who should not be within a million miles from the White House.

I remember seeing Bob Mueller at Ground Zero three days after 9/11. I was part of a press pool covering President Bush, Hillary Clinton, Rudy Giuliani and Mueller, whe had just been sworn in a few days earlier as the new head of the FBI. In that job, he restored the integrity of the Bureau, caught a lot of terrorists, and was, by all measures, the best director of the FBI in history.

He had earlier done a stellar job helping run the Justice Department, and then, late in his career, he left private practice and went back into government to prosecute local criminals in Washington, D.C., several levels down from where he had served before. That’s a public servant. A man of decency.

And there’s more: When his friends from Princeton were dodging the draft, Mueller went to Vietnam and won a Purple Heart.

Donald Trump posted this yesterday, moments after Robert Mueller’s death.

Compare that to Trump, who told Howard Stern “my Vietnam” was fear of getting the clap. Now Captain Bone Spurs wants tanker captains to show courage in the Straits of Hormuz.

Remember how Trumpsters tried to get anyone who didn’t express profound grief over the death of Charlie Kirk fired? Now they don’t bat an eye over Trump celebrating Mueller’s death. Imagine if someone at their kid’s school said he was “glad” that another kid died. Or someone at their company. The student would be sent to the school psychologist. The co-worker would likely lose his job. But they’re fine with it in the White House.

Yes, I was a little disappointed by the 2019 Mueller report. But Trump lied when he said he was exonerated. The report concluded that Russia tried to steal the 2016 election from Hillary, the Trump campaign knew about it, and on 10 separate occasions, they obstructed justice.

Mueller also said that he didn’t have enough to charge Trump with a crime. And that’s too bad. But even if he had, it wouldn’t have gotten Trump out of office. The Supreme Court would have just given the president immunity five years earlier.

So in the long view of history, Mueller should not be remembered for fumbling the ball on that. He should be remembered for a career of true public service.

When I think of Bob Mueller, the word that comes to mind is integrity. With Donald Trump, it’s depravity.

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