We saw an extraordinarily revealing moment in the Trump Horror today, following yesterday’s statement by Newt Gingrich that he’d been told by Trump’s people to stop using the phrase “Drain the Swamp.”

When this revelation hit the media, somewhere inside the swollen pumpkin head of our new Narcissist in Chief a light went on and he realized that Newt was giving away the con game, telling the world that Trump never really intended to drain any swamps.

Of course, it was already obvious from his appointments and nominations so far; a panoply of Goldman Sachs and Wall Street executives, billionaires, Washington DC lifers and Republican insiders. This swamp is very much un-drained; in fact it’s swampier than ever and smells like hell.

But actually saying it out loud as Newt did, well, that’s a con man’s cardinal sin. Never let the rubes see the game. So sometime after Gingrich blurted out the truth, he received a spanking from the tiny fists of the talking yam, who then followed it up with one of his usual unhinged tweets:

Someone incorrectly stated that the phrase “DRAIN THE SWAMP” was no longer being used by me. Actually, we will always be trying to DTS.

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 22, 2016

And this morning, Gingrich sheepishly tweeted a comical retraction, complete with groveling video:

I goofed. Draining the swamp is in, @realDonaldTrump is going to do it, and the alligators should be worried. #DTS https://t.co/nCHs61gpve pic.twitter.com/OCO7eaSKvk

— Newt Gingrich (@newtgingrich) December 22, 2016

“A big boo-boo!” Newt Gingrich is 73 years old, folks.

What you’re really seeing in this little mini-drama is just how astoundingly cynical and corrupt Donald Trump is. Even an unreconstructed right wing reptile like Newt Gingrich doesn’t yet understand the rules of the con game he’s part of. But he’s catching on fast.