Maggie Habberman reports that Trump is telling people in private that he does not think the voice on last year’s Access Hollywood tape, in which he brags about committing sexual assault, is his voice. He is also bringing up his old lie that Obama’s U.S. birth certificate is a fabrication. Some in the media are using this reporting to further speculation that Trump is suffering dementia. But Habberman doesn’t think so. She told CNN that he has for decades had a habit of verbalizing his idealized reality in hopes of making it the accepted version of his self image. Also, he has not said these things publicly, which suggests he knows it would come off as crazy.
On Wednesday morning Trump re-Tweeted a British hate group’s anti-Muslim video. It created a uproar in the United Kingdom, and ensures that Theresa May’s offer of a state visit, so far unscheduled, will probably never happen.
The week ended on Friday with Michael Flynn pleading guilty to lying to the FBI about his Russia contacts before Inauguration. Flynn made a statement that revealed he has accepted a plea deal and will provide information to the Mueller investigation. Here are two views on the matter: Lawfare blog, as usual, sees this as a serious development and a danger for Trump; while the National Review’s Andrew McCarthy downplays the significance.
Finally, Matt Lauer was fired for sexual assault this week. Many have made a connection to the men in political media who have recently lost their jobs over their treatment of women–Lauer, Charlie Rose and Mark Halperin–and these same mens’ treatment of Hillary Clinton during the 2016 election.