Metaphorically, president did shoot someone on Fifth Avenue

As of mid-October the fact checkers at The Washington Post had cataloged 13,435 false statements made by President Donald Trump.

There are probably a lot more by now.

None of which matters given the one undeniably truthful statement Trump made nearly a year before becoming president.

He was at a campaign stop in Sioux City, Iowa, when Trump said, "You know what else they say about my people? The polls, they say I have the most loyal people. Did you ever see that? Where I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn’t lose any voters, okay? It’s like incredible.”

It is, like, incredible.

And true.

Because now we know that – metaphorically speaking – Trump did shoot someone on Fifth Avenue. And it does not matter. Not for Trump’s core supporters.

What matters, now, is how many of those supporters are left.

Trump used his power as president to pressure an ally, the Ukraine, to open investigations into Joe Biden and his son in order to benefit Trump personally. The leverage Trump used: a meeting at the White House and hundreds of millions of dollars in military aid, which had been delayed.

European Union Ambassador Gordon Sondland said Wednesday, “Was there a ‘quid pro quo?’ The answer is yes.”

He also said, “Everyone was in the loop. It was no secret.”

That money was not released until after a whistleblower’s concerns about Trump's call became public.

It’s all very damning, and there have been many witnesses.

For his part, Trump has attacked witnesses and attempted to divert attention from the facts, and his supporters have gone along with him.

Over the weekend he attacked Fox News’ host Chris Wallace for correctly

challenging false statements by House Minority Whip Steve Scalise.

When Scalise trashed the witnesses against Trump Wallace said, "No, sir. They're career foreign service officers and these are people who worked in the Trump Administration."

When Scalise said Trump had done nothing wrong because the aid to Ukraine was released, Wallace pointed out that "President Trump released the aid two days after the whistleblower complaint went public."

All of this would matter only if facts mattered to the president’s most ardent supporters or to the Republican members of Congress who now seem to be completely under his thumb.

And they don’t.

I hear from such people every day. Arizona has elected a number of them. (Reps. Andy Biggs, Paul Gosar, Debbie Lesko ...)

A new poll by ABC News/Ipsos found that 70% of Americans believe Trump’s attempt to strong-arm a foreign leader to investigate his political rival is wrong. And 51% believe he should be impeached.

But that doesn’t seem to matter, yet, to Republicans in Congress or to a core group of Trump voters. They are not truth deniers. They are truth ignorers. And for Republicans in Congress, oath ignorers.

When Trump said he could “stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody” and keep his supporters he wasn’t lying.

He has. Metaphorically speaking.