Bill Barr: Trump Is an Egomaniac Who “Repels” Voters and Is “Unfit” for Office…And I’d Totally Vote for Him in 2024

As Donald Trump’s attorney general from February 2019 to December 2020, Bill Barr had an up close look at the way the former guy conducted himself while running the country. And, like many an American, what he came away with—after, yes, nearly two years of doing the guy’s dirty work—was that Trump is a malignant narcissist who should be kept away from the White House at all costs.

Speaking to CBS Mornings on Tuesday about the Justice Department’s probe into Trump’s handling of classified documents and potential obstruction of justice, Barr said, contrary to his ex boss’s claims, the investigation has absolutely not been a witch hunt. “In fact, they approached this very delicately and with deference to the president,” Barr said, adding that if Trump had simply returned the documents when asked, the investigation would have “gone nowhere…but he jerked them around for a year and a half.” Whether special counsel Jack Smith indicts Trump or not remains to be see but regardless, Barr said, there is “no excuse for what [Trump] did here.”

Asked by host Gayle King what he expects the public reaction to a possible indictment might be, Barr responded: “This says more about Trump than it does the Department of Justice. He’s so egotistical that he has this penchant for conducting risky, reckless acts to show that he can sort of get away with it…and he’s done this repeatedly at the expense of all the people who depend on him to conduct the public’s business in an honorable way.” Asked about Trump’s third bid for office, the former attorney general declared him “almost unique in his inability to attract voters. He repels people other than his core base.”

Given all this, you might think that there would be absolutely no way that Barr would cast a vote for Trump in the 2024 general election, especially considering Barr has also said that Trump was responsible for January 6, and became “manic and unreasonable,” in the run-up to the attack that left five people dead. But: Surprise! (Or not, because he’s said it before.) Claiming that neither Trump nor Joe Biden are “fit for the office,” Barr said he would nevertheless go for Trump should 2024 turn out to be another matchup between the two men. He did not tell King how he sleeps at night, but presumably the answer would be “Just fine, why do you ask?”

In other Trump news, per the Associated Press:

Federal prosecutors are using a grand jury in Florida as part of their investigation into the possible mishandling of classified documents at former President Donald Trump’s Palm Beach property, a person familiar with the matter said Tuesday night. The grand jury is in addition to a separate panel that has been meeting in Washington for months to consider charges against Trump over the retention of hundreds of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago and potential obstruction of the government’s efforts to reclaim the records.

It is not clear why prosecutors are using an additional grand jury, which was described to The Associated Press by a person who insisted on anonymity to discuss secret proceedings, or which witnesses might be testifying before it.

In his interview with CBS Mornings, Barr reminded people that “I’ve said for a while that I think [the documents probe] is the most dangerous legal risk facing the former president.” Wouldn’t apparently change Barr’s calculus re: voting for the guy in 2024, but nevertheless good to know!