The Impeached Insult Comedian just can’t quit Vladimir Putin. In an interview last night, he revisited one of his greatest hits from 2016:

“Trump raised unfounded claims that Russian oligarch Yelena Baturina, the wife of former Moscow mayor Yury Luzhkov, gave $3.5 million to a foreign business founded by Hunter Biden.

“She gave him $3.5 million so now I would think Putin would know the answer to that. I think he should release it,” Trump said. “I think we should know that answer.”

Trump then insisted that Putin should help him in his efforts to dig up dirt on the Biden family.

“How is it that the mayor of Moscow, his wife gave the Biden family three and a half million dollars?” Trump said. “I think Putin now would be willing to probably give that answer. I’m sure he knows.”

Uh, Donald, Vlad the Terrible’s plate is full right now. He’s busy waging a war of aggression on Ukraine. I’m not sure he can hear you over the sound of missiles, artillery, and screaming civilians. War is not only hell, it’s noisy.

Let’s flashback to 2016 and Trump’s infamous But Her Emails comment:

“I will tell you this, Russia: If you’re listening, I hope you’re able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing,” Trump said in Sept. 2016. “I think you will probably be rewarded mightily by our press.”

I guess the Kaiser of Chaos thinks the second time is the charm. It happened once so it can happen again:

I’m not alone in thinking that former President* Pennywise is not only losing his tenuous grip on reality but on the Republican party. So does Josh Marshall:

“I know this may seem like wishful thinking or whistling past the grave. But I think this is also another example of why Trump is losing his hold on the GOP. I think it’s less and less likely that he’ll be the GOP nominee in 2024. I’m not saying it won’t happen. It might. I just think it’s getting less likely. This also doesn’t mean the GOP is ‘going back to normal’ or abandoning Trump or whatever other phrasing you want to use. The GOP is thoroughly Trumpified. If he recedes from electoral politics it will be mostly because his victory within the GOP, or Trumpism’s victory, is so thorough. But the guy himself is too backwards looking, even more caught up in his own feuds than he was in 2016 or as President. You see this in his tantrums at some of his biggest backers – like his unendorsing of Mo Brooks.”

Uh, Josh, this is the correct expression:

That’s just a minor quibble; otherwise, I concur with my distinguished colleague from New York. Additionally, never argue with Screamin’ Jay Hawkins. I know he’s been dead since 2000 but it wouldn’t surprise me if a Zombie Screamin’ Jay is out there somewhere. In the immortal words of Bela Lugosi in Ed Wood’s Glen or Glenda:

Back to Trump-Putin. The Darnold seems to have lost his ability to read the GOP room. After his revanchist attack on Ukraine, Putin is as popular with Republicans as CRT.

One of the truisms of politics is that elections are won by looking forward, not backward. The Impeached Insult Comedian is consumed with past grievances that may or may not resonate with his base. If his downward spiral continues, I expect Ron DeSantis to run in 2024 regardless of whether Trump does. The spell isn’t exactly broken but the torch may be passed to a new generation of Trumpers.

The other lesson to be learned from Trump’s latest plea to Putin is contained in an old song. The last word goes to Neil Sedaka: