David Axelrod Says Trump’s ‘Marie Antoinette Thing’ Could Decapitate GOP in Midterms

Democratic strategist David Axelrod said President Donald Trump’s fixation with remodeling the White House and other government buildings could serve as a fatal liability for Republicans’ electoral prospects in the midterms.

Since taking office for the second time, Trump has taken a particular interest in redesigning government buildings. He has paved over the Rose Garden, demolished the East Wing of the White House to make way for a gigantic ballroom, added his name to the Kennedy Center, and created a “Presidential Walk of Fame” in the White House, among other redesigns.

On Monday, the president again suggested he may fire Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, whom he has repeatedly criticized for not lowering interest rates more quickly. Trump also slammed Powell for alleged cost overruns in the renovation of the Federal Reserve’s headquarters. Powell’s term expires in May.

“We’ve heard all of this before,” Axelrod said on Monday’s OutFront on CNN. “He went over to the Fed, and he made these allegations. And the chairman gave a spontaneous rebuttal. But here’s the thing that people should be concerned about. He wants control of the Fed because he wants to manipulate interest rates to his political advantage, to what he perceives as his political advantage. That’s the reason that the Fed is an independent agency.”

The CNN commentator went on to say that Trump’s “Marie Antoinette thing” could prove costly for other Republicans:

And his obsession with those kinds of issues actually are a political problem for him. I mean, people are sitting around and thinking about how they’re gonna pay their bills, and he’s posting stuff about how he’s gonna have marble handrails at the Kennedy Center. And he’s posting marble pictures of his new marble Palm Room at the White House and so on.

And people are saying to themselves, “What the hell does that have to do with me? I thought he was gonna be fighting for me to bring my costs down. And he seems obsessed with gold and putting his name on things and remodeling buildings and rebuilding monuments to himself.”

And I think this is a huge political problem for him. It’s a symbol of his distraction. It’s the Marie Antoinette thing that he’s got going. That is a big political problem. And not for him… He’s not on the ballot in next November, but Republicans should be really concerned about what they’re seeing.

Watch above via CNN.