Last week was not an auspicious one for President Donald Trump’s personal reputation, with longtime lawyer and so-called fixer Michael Cohen, under oath, directly implicating Trump in illegal activity, former campaign chairman Paul Manafort convicted on eight of 18 federal charges and Trump Organization finance chief Alan Weisselberg granted immunity in, at minimum, the case against Cohen.
Even Utah’s Sen. Orrin Hatch, who has been more effusive than most congressional Republicans in his praise of Trump — calling Trump late last year a “heck of a leader” with the potential to become the best president “maybe ever” — conceded in a conversation with the New York Times that Trump was no paragon of piety or propriety. In the past, at least.
Said Hatch:
‘Eight years ago to 10 years ago, Trump was not what I consider to be a pillar of virtue.’Since his election to the presidency, however, in Hatch’s view, Trump has turned a new leaf:
‘I think he has changed a lot of his life once he was elected. I think Trump is a much better person today than he was then.’And as for his past as a less-than-admirable character, Trump, per Hatch, is not to blame. Because, apparently, New York City is:
‘I think most people in this country realize that Donald Trump comes from a different world. He comes from New York City, he comes from a slam-bang, difficult world. It is amazing he is as good as he is.’Also in Key Words: Utah’s Orrin Hatch honored by not-quite-honor as state’s most impactful person
And: ‘Front stabber’ Scaramucci defends Trump as Washington outsider and a straight-talk New Yorker
