Several hours earlier he had chastised Senate Republicans for not getting rid of the filibuster, claiming "8 Dems control the Senate!"

Indeed, in the month of August Trump has reserved his harshest criticism for his political allies in the Republican Congress. On Twitter alone, for instance, Trump has criticized congressional Republicans, en masse or by name, at least 11 times.

By contrast, he's criticized or insulted congressional Democrats just seven times. Most of those insults were directed at Senator Richard Blumenthal after Blumenthal made a CNN appearance to talk about the ongoing Russia investigation.

Trump's favorite GOP punching bag is Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who he's called out by name no fewer than four times. "Can you believe that Mitch McConnell, who has screamed Repeal & Replace for 7 years, couldn't get it done," Trump asked on August 10.

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"Mitch, get back to work" he admonished later that day.

He's also lashed out multiple times at Senators Lindsay Graham ("He just can't forget his election trouncing") and Jeff Flake ("he's toxic!").

Trump has also issued several blanket condemnations of Congress overall ("Our relationship with Russia is at an all-time & very dangerous low. You can thank Congress, the same people that can't even give us HCare!").

As observers on the left, right and center have noticed, the President's assaults on members of his own party are almost certainly counterproductive in terms of getting his legislative priorities passed.

We also shouldn't lose sight of how abnormal it is for a sitting President to criticize people the way Trump does, with his trademark blend of schoolyard taunts, name-calling, innuendo and heavy reliance on exclamation points for emphasis.