'Trump fever is breaking' as GOP privately fears 'administration is dead in the water'

DC insiders, including some in the White House, have begun referring to President Donald Trump’s administration as “Weekend at Bernie’s” due to its shambling, farcical nature. What’s more, it’s become clear that “Trump fever is breaking.”

This is according to Salon White House correspondent Brian Karem, who, based on conversations with wide-ranging figures on Capitol Hill and in the administration, describes a zombie presidency that continues to stagger forward while the chief executive dozes and his aides try to maintain the illusion of normalcy, all while onlookers are aware of the facade.

As Karem explains, Trump’s recent actions have torpedoed the Republican agenda, prompting members of his own congressional caucus to openly view him with “anger and derision.” In the words of one Republican representative, “It’s a f—— s–— show, isn’t it? It’s always about him. That’s his only idea. He’s nuts.”

This, says Karem, is the sign that “Trump fever is breaking.” Not only are top voices in the GOP pushing back against him, but they’re now considering their options for “when the day finally comes that the 80-year-old president is no longer around.”

“Some of us are wondering if it will be sooner than later,” a junior member of Congress said, noting that some “have started to refer to the whole enterprise as ‘Weekend at Bernie’s’ — referring to the legendary 1989 comedy in which two aides try to pass off their dead boss as alive.”

While some of the president’s opponents like to raise the specter of impeachment, few in DC think this is likely — at least until after the midterms, depending on how they turn out. Instead, says Karem, “members on both sides of the aisle, and even members of Trump’s staff, are more concerned that the president will roll over like a cockroach and start spouting gibberish (if he hasn’t done that already) or that he simply won’t survive his full term, which still has 940 days to go. In both cases, ‘Weekend at Bernie’s’ is the proper analogy. ‘This administration is dead in the water,’ another Republican congressman told me.”

As a result, writes Karem, “Behind the scenes, there’s a lot of scrambling among Republicans that’s starting to look more like panic than strategy.” They’re infighting over who will be Trump’s heir, and frantically attempting to paint Democrats as “communists” following a handful of far-left electoral wins in New York City, “even as they try to keep the ‘Weekend at Bernie’s’ routine going.”

But, asserts Karem, “the palace is on fire and the king is asleep — literally. Photos of Trump asleep in public are everywhere and drive home the agonizing ‘Bernie’s’-themed memes being shared among GOP staffers…Trump is increasingly lethargic, unintelligible and addicted to cosplaying commander-in-chief for the cameras. White House reporters, meanwhile, are preparing for the day — perhaps a day when they serve as pool reporter — when they get the call about a calamity befalling the president. That might happen.”

With all this in mind, Karem forecasts, “the ‘Weekend at Bernie’s’ regime can’t possibly last much longer.”