Touch Some Grass

I slept in this morning after a very long week last week. In lieu of putting this in the noon-time show notes, however, I wanted to go on and send this.

Last Friday, the White House rapid response Twitter account turned its attention to attacking David Reaboi and Batya Ungar-Sargon for their disagreements on the Iran Deal. Several young White House staffers also piled on Ted Cruz for his skepticism of the deal.

If you have not heard of David or Batya, you are not alone. I know both and like both tremendously. I agree more with David on most things than Batya. Batya leans left on a number of issues and was one of the most vocal defenders of President Trump’s tariff policies, among other things. She broke with a lot of friends after October 7th and has been a prominent defender of President Trump’s foreign policy and domestic policy, but disagrees loudly on Iran. She has a show on NewsNation on Saturdays.

David is in Miami, has ties to the Claremont Institute, has been a proponent of National Conservatism, has a Substack email and Twitter following, and writes and consults on national security issues.

I do not mean this insultingly to either friend, but attacking David and Batya elevates them. It was just an odd attack against two people who are not very well known nationally.

But to the Trump Team in the White House, it mattered greatly that these two criticized Iran.

The President’s Chief of Staff, Susie Wiles, reportedly suggested to the Vice President that he take a break from social media. Much of the staff engaged on social media in the White House is strongly tied to and fiercely loyal to the Vice President, who negotiated the deal with Iran that is, as I write, falling apart.

In 2020, both Kamala Harris and Elizabeth Warren went down in flames in the presidential primary because they were far more focused on what was happening on Twitter than in the real world. Now, in this White House, a large group of staff has convinced themselves that Twitter is the real world.

It is not, and they risk losing the plot by thinking so. The White House lawn is lush, green, and thick. They might should go walk on it, touch some grass, and come back to reality.

When you’re attacking otherwise loyal supporters most people have never heard of through official social media channels, you’re not living in the real world, where most people do not like the Iran deal, think we have put Iran in a stronger position, and Iran is, even now, undermining the deal.