Trump uses rally to threaten senator who opposed unqualified veterans nominee

On Saturday night, Trump lashed out at Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT) over the failure of Trump’s nominee for Veterans Affairs secretary by threatening to spill unspecified secrets about Tester.

At a rally in Washington, Michigan, Trump went on a tirade about the nomination of his personal physician, Dr. Ronny Jackson, to head the Veterans Administration. The nomination was derailed by multiple allegations of misconduct, including drinking on the job and handing out drugs to White House staffers.

Trump praised Jackson as a “truly high-quality human being,” and said that Tester derailed Jackson’s nomination by “throwing out things that he’s heard.”

“I know things about Tester that I could say, too,” Trump said. “And if I said ’em, he’d never be elected again.”

Earlier on Saturday, Trump attacked Tester on Twitter over Jackson’s failed nomination, calling for the Montana Democrat to resign. Republican Sen. Jonny Isakson (R-GA) signed off on the release of the allegations against Jackson, which Trump did not mention.

And the allegations against Jackson came from current and retired members of the military, not Tester’s imagination.

But more importantly, Trump is threatening to smear Jon Tester over a failure that squarely belongs to Trump. Even before these allegations surfaced, Trump’s own White House could not explain why Jackson was qualified to run the VA.

There is another sick irony to Trump’s petulant rant. Trump’s threat to divulge alleged secrets about Tester also comes just days after Trump admitted his involvement in a deal to pay $130,000 in hush money to porn star Stormy Daniels.

Dr. Ronny Jackson’s nomination was in trouble from the minute Trump announced it on a whim via Twitter, but as usual, Trump is refusing to accept the blame for his own failure. Unfortunately, it appears there will be plenty more failures where this came from.