Rachel Maddow Reveals The Secret To Silencing Trump: Ask Him About The Flynn-Russia Scandal

After nearly 100 days of the Donald Trump presidency, there is nobody on the face of the planet that would say the new president is soft-spoken or careful about what he says.

This is a president, after all, who doesn’t mind conducting foreign policy via Twitter or simply making things up on the fly.

Despite the president’s well-documented history of spewing the first thing that crosses his mind, Rachel Maddow revealed the secret to keeping him quiet: just ask him about the Michael Flynn-Russia scandal.

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Maddow pointed to one moment in March, when Trump planned to sign two executive orders in front of some cameras but ran out of the room before doing so because a reporter asked him about Flynn’s ties to Russia.

“He got asked about Mike Flynn, and that apparently was it,” Maddow said. “Okay, forget it, no signing, this thing is over.”

The same thing unfolded again on Thursday in the Oval Office during the signing of an executive order, when Trump again froze in silence after being asked about Flynn.

“If you want to turn this president to stone,” Maddow said. “Ask him about Mike Flynn.”

It’s worth keeping in mind that this is a president who has no problem spewing nonsense about every topic under the sun, from nonexistent voter fraud to the wacky claim that Barack Obama personally wiretapped Trump Tower during the campaign.

Whether it’s childish Twitter tantrums or unhinged press conferences, there are very few moments when the country has had the privilege of experiencing a silent Donald Trump.

But when it comes to a subject on which the American people want and deserve some real answers – the ongoing scandal linking Trump and his associates to Russia – this president has nothing to say.

His silence speaks volumes.

Sean Colarossi

Sean Colarossi currently resides in Cleveland, Ohio. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and was an organizing fellow for both of President Obama’s presidential campaigns. He also worked with Planned Parenthood as an Affordable Care Act Outreach Organizer in 2014, helping northeast Ohio residents obtain health insurance coverage.