Republican strategists are mystified and frustrated that there wasn't a more coordinated effort to pounce on Hillary Clinton and the FBI on Tuesday in the wake of the damning email scandal report,
the New York Times reported.
Instead, the only immediate response was exclamation points.
"[Trump is] making somebody who should be sitting in a jail cell look like the sane choice for president," former Mitt Romney and Jeb Bush national security aide John Noonan told the Times. "This should have been a two-foot putt. But Republicans never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity. And that's what we've done."
It's another symptom of two major problems with the Trump candidacy, the Times reported: Trump doesn't have the cache of expertise on his own staff to pull it together, and his dearth of support within his own party means no one with the expertise is jumping in to help or speak on his behalf
"Imagine Jeb Bush looking disappointed and talking about the importance of following the rules and a society ruled by law with a government that is held accountable," national security aide for George W. Bush Kori Schake told the Times. "This should be a really great moment for a Republican nominee. But there's no way in the world Donald Trump could pull that off."
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