Jonathan Bernstein is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering politics and policy. He taught political science at the University of Texas at San Antonio and DePauw University and wrote A Plain Blog About Politics. Read more opinion LISTEN TO ARTICLE 4:06 SHARE THIS ARTICLE Share Tweet Post Email

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I think this is going to be my favorite Donald Trump story for a while.

Wednesday night, just as he was getting impeached, the president held a rally in Michigan. The news out of the event, such as it was, was that Trump had insulted Democratic Representative Debbie Dingell and her late husband, former Congressman John Dingell, in their home state. I suppose that’s a reminder of who Trump is, but it wasn’t the part of the rally that I found remarkable.

The part that struck me had to do with Trump’s defense against the allegations that led to his impeachment. Democrats have charged that Trump abused his power when he attempted to pressure Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy into investigating former Vice President Joe Biden — Trump’s potential opponent in 2020 — in exchange for official favors. In a crucial phone call with Zelenskiy in July, Trump made a key statement: “I would like you to do us a favor, though.”

To House Democrats, this seemed to be the point at which the president was attempting to coerce a foreign leader into giving him political assistance. But Trump and his allies have insisted on another reading. They emphasize the “us” and claim that Trump was asking, as president, for something that the country as a whole wanted. On Dec. 4, Trump spelled it out on Twitter: “With the word `us’ I am referring to the United States, our Country.” In a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi this week, he reiterated the point: “I said do us a favor, not me , and our country , not a campaign.”

This has been a critical part of Trump’s defense. His allies have made the same distinction over and over; Republicans made it a central plank of their case during impeachment hearings. Representative Steve Scalise made the point again in an interview just yesterday. And yet the whole thing rests on the premise that the president wouldn’t use the royal “we” — the first person plural — to refer to himself. And so what does Trump say in Michigan to kick off his rally, just as the House is voting on impeachment?

As CNN’s Kaitlan Collins reported:

"It doesn’t really feel like we’re being impeached," President Trump tells the Michigan crowd. "The country is doing better than ever before...We did nothing wrong. We have tremendous support in the Republican party."

"We're being impeached." "We did nothing wrong." "We have tremendous support.” No, this doesn’t prove Trump’s intent on the phone call. But it obliterates the idea that he wouldn’t say “us” to refer to himself personally. It certainly doesn’t help his case. Either he was unable to control himself for a few days after making this argument, or he was unable to realize the connection, or he just doesn’t care whether he’s consistent from one minute to the next. Most likely, it was some combination of all three.

And that, right there, is the president of the United States.

1. Cornell W. Clayton at the Monkey Cage on Attorney General William Barr and the Department of Justice.

2. Dan Drezner on history in the age of Trump.

3. Daniel Nichanian on restoring voting rights in New Jersey and Kentucky.

4. My Bloomberg Opinion colleague Rachel Rosenthal on paid parental leave for federal workers.

5. Also here at Opinion: Noah Feldman on the president’s letter to Pelosi.

6. Jennifer Bendery on tourists on impeachment day.

7. And FiveThirtyEight has just rolled out polling averages for the Democratic nomination, with both national and state estimates. Add it to RealClearPolitics and the Economist, just in time for Thursday’s debate. I’m a broken record on this, but: The candidates with the most on the line are those who would have a good chance if they could break out from the pack, but who haven’t yet done so. That group keeps getting smaller, and for this debate it’s really about Senator Amy Klobuchar. For the polling leaders, any debate effects will probably wash out well before the Iowa caucuses. But Klobuchar can’t afford to slump and is running out of time to surge.

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This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.