Motives

Garth Meyer, Gazette Reporter | Feb 13, 20200

When Donald Trump was looking into Ukraine last year, how concerned was he about presidential candidate Joe Biden?

Enough that he wanted foreign help to beat him?

If so, wouldn't that be about the most overestimated Joe Biden has been in his life?

Biden is not a good candidate. Four years ago, it was more likely, but a month from now he'll be out of the 2020 race.

Show a reel of his highlights, good and bad, from the last eight months and any honest observer would say; some president was worried enough about this guy to pull an impeachable stunt with Ukrainians?

Granted, Trump's phone call-in-question was back in July when all that was not yet clear, but still, Biden, a twice-failed presidential contender, gaffe-prone and generally tagged by Democrats and others as Uncle Joe in a Camaro during the Obama administration?

Trump was worried about him to this level?

Similarly, show a highlight reel of Trump in the 2016 campaign, good and bad, and any observer would have to wonder: this guy was so concerned about losing he colluded with Russians?

Why wouldn’t he just watch his mouth a little? Maybe put down his phone.

Motive is the question.

What is Trump's motive when he does things?

Himself, they say.

Perhaps, but there might be more to it. What is he most interested in?

Hunter Biden's board seat with the Ukrainian gas company was smarmy as can be. Trump is interested in that. That's what he likes about politics – the “domestic political errand,” the drama of the people and personalities involved.

But what about the cushy jobs Trump gives his kids, people counter. That's different. It's within the family company, it's not the family name being used to get a guy a free job on some board in Eastern Europe.

Just the same, Trump thinks the people/media that already looked into the Biden-Ukraine conspiracy theory failed to do their job. So he wants to find out, for himself. If he can't get the Justice Department to do it, he'll ask someone else. He'd like to expose Barack Obama too with whatever he might find, not just Biden, because in theory Obama would have known of the conspiracy, if there was one. Obama's not running against Trump in 2020. Trump is still interested in smearing Hillary too.

So, in the end, Trump might have said what he said on that phone call if Biden wasn't even running for president.

But according to the impeachment charges, he did what he did to ask for help from a foreign government to skewer an election.

All of this, for someone who many people openly questioned whether he really wanted to win in 2016.

So, to be sure, we are to believe Trump did want to win, so much so he went to unprecedented, illegal lengths to do so. Then, in the run-up to 2020, he wanted to be re-elected so badly, he went to further unprecedented, illegal lengths to help him beat the weakest presidential frontrunner in memory.

That's what just happened in America.

How much of it to believe? It makes you wonder.