The Point: Even James Comey is numb to all of this

View this email in your browser December 10, 2018  | by Chris Cillizza and Lauren Dezenski Even James Comey is numb to all this President Donald Trump fired James Comey as the head of the FBI. He has described Comey as a liar and a leaker. He has said he did the country a favor by firing Comey. And on Sunday, this from Trump's Twitter feed: "Leakin' James Comey must have set a record for who lied the most to Congress in one day. His Friday testimony was so untruthful! This whole deal is a Rigged Fraud headed up by dishonest people who would do anything so that I could not become President. They are now exposed!" But just hours after Trump's tweet, even Comey himself admitted that, against his better judgment, he has grown sort of numb to all of Trump's taunts.   "I kind of shrug and sometimes smile and laugh about it and then I have a secondary reaction, which is to be horrified at my own numb reaction, right?" Comey told MSNBC's Nicolle Wallace at an event Sunday night in New York. "We have to remind ourselves the President of the United States of America is publicly announcing that people are committing crimes, that they should be in jail." So say we all. What Comey is tapping into is the sort of survival mentality that is the sort of de facto approach to the Trump presidency. Trump says and does so many things that are abnormal -- not just for politicians but for people -- that it is impossible to properly contextualize all of it. The mind reels. And the response is often to laugh, roll your eyes and move on. It's a coping mechanism -- and even James Comey uses it.  While it's an understandable reaction, it is, as Comey notes, not the right one. Whether you like Trump or loathe him, you have to acknowledge that nothing he is doing is anything like what any past president has done. He is charting his own course -- at all times. The Point: None of this is normal. None of it. Remind yourself of that the next time Trump says something that is demonstrably false about a private citizen. Or a politician. Or anyone. -- Chris  QUOTE OF THE DAY "They're good guys, but I feel like the one random dad in the frat house." -- Soon-to-be-former South Carolina Rep. Mark Sanford on living with his son and other friends, all recent college graduates, in a DC-area home while he transitions out of his congressional office.  KIDS THESE DAYS The kids are down to get out the vote -- so much so that they broke 50% turnout among eligible voters between 18 and 20 in this year's midterms. At 50.1%, that's the highest turnout we have ever seen among that demographic in any midterm election over the last 100 years.  CHRIS' GOOD READS John Podesta talks Pizzagate The Bottomless Pinocchio is now a thing 2018 was a massive midterm turnout, reports Harry Enten Ariel Levy on Julia Louis-Dreyfus Your apps are watching you MUSICAL INTERLUDE Wham!'s "Last Christmas" is gold. INSTA POINT Today's topic: Who actually wants to be Donald Trump's chief of staff? 🌽NOT EXACTLY A WARM WELCOME IN IOWA 🌽 It's easy to focus on the Democrats running for President in 2020 (especially since the field is probably going to be MASSIVE) but let's not forget the Iowa caucuses also applies to the GOP. Donald Trump is probably running again (Chris says there's 0% chance he doesn't run, for the record), and Iowa Republicans aren't exactly rolling out the red carpet for potential Trump challengers, Lauren writes. Republican Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley is playing it cool, telling the Des Moines Register: "They are welcome to come, but Chuck Grassley won't be appearing with them." This is similar to the line drawn by Republican Party of Iowa Chairman Jeff Kaufmann: "If challengers want to come into Iowa, they're welcome," Kaufmann said in November. "...But if those challengers are criticizing Republicans and the President, I'll push back." 💸 MONEY MATTERS, 2020 EDITION 💸 CNN's David Harris has counted the campaign cash in the would-be 2020 candidates' war chests and found a whole lot of dough. Cash-on-hand for potential 2020-ers, post-midterms: Elizabeth Warren: $12.5 million Kirsten Gillibrand: $10.5 million  Bernie Sanders: $8.8 million Amy Klobuchar: $4.4 million Cory Booker: $4.1 million Sherrod Brown: $1.8 million Beto O'Rourke: $477,000 David's takeaways:  "Elizabeth Warren leaves 2018 in a commanding financial position, with $12.5 million in cash-on-hand, after having raised $25.7 million during her re-election bid. Over 62% of her '17-'18 contributions came from small dollar donors. "Kirsten Gillibrand also had a strong fundraising cycle, raising over $17.8 million and exiting 2018 with over $10.5 million in cash on hand (over 35% of her contributions came from small dollar donors). "Bernie Sanders had another strong fundraising cycle, taking in over $10.1 million and carrying nearly $8.8 million into the 2020 cycle. He had the highest proportion of small dollar donors in '17-'18, at over 76%. "Meanwhile, fundraising juggernaut Beto O'Rourke enters 2020 with just about $477,000 in cash on hand, having burned through nearly all of his prodigious $80 million '17-'18 haul." NOT-SO-SWEET SIXTEEN We know at least 16 people connected to President Donald Trump have had contact with Russians during the campaign or transition -- and CNN's Marshall Cohen has made a handy list: Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort Senior Trump campaign official Rick Gates Former national security adviser Michael Flynn Trump's son, Donald Trump Jr. White House senior adviser Jared Kushner Trump campaign adviser George Papadopoulos Former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page Former Attorney General Jeff Sessions Trump campaign official JD Gordon Former Trump campaign adviser Roger Stone Former Trump campaign aide Michael Caputo Trump associate Erik Prince White House official Avi Berkowitz Former Trump attorney Michael Cohen White House senior adviser Ivanka Trump Trump business associate Felix Sater Worth noting: Everyone on this list denies participating in any "collusion" with the Russians. YOUR DAILY GIF From Brenna: "It looks like I'm not the only one who has to bang hammers on my desk to get through Monday. Oh, it's a gavel? And that's the House chamber? So THAT'S why it wasn't frowned upon when they did it. Gotcha. Share The Point with the people you share Monday with." We'd love to share our other newsletters with you. Follow this link for daily coverage of the world's top stories, savvy market insights, an insider's look into the media, and more. Send your tips and thoughts via email to Chris Cillizza and Lauren Dezenski. Follow Chris and Lauren on Twitter. Subscribe to The Point unsubscribe from this list    update subscription preferences  Copyright © 2018 Cable News Network, LP, LLLP. A WarnerMedia Company. All Rights Reserved., All rights reserved. You are receiving this message because you subscribed to CNN's The Point with Chris Cillizza newsletter. Our mailing address is: Cable News Network, LP, LLLP. A WarnerMedia Company. All Rights Reserved. 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