Trump Tweets ‘Thank You MSNBC’ with Video that He Deceitfully Edited to Clear Himself of Collusion

It isn’t often that Donald Trump will offer praise to any TV news network other than his pals at Fox News. In fact, he generally denies that he ever watches anything else. His Twitter feed is filled with examples of his live-tweeting whatever he’s watching on Fox. But somehow he finds out what the others are saying about him and whines about it for days. That’s when he isn’t smearing them in Stalinist terms as “the enemy of the people.”

Donald Trump, Fox News, Fake

But on Tuesday Trump saw a segment on MSNBC that warmed his shriveled heart. Host Hallie Jackson was interviewing NBC News intelligence and national security reporter, Ken Dilanian, about the breaking news that the Senate Intelligence Committee had concluded that they had not found any “direct evidence” of Trump colluding with Russia. Trump was so gleeful upon hearing this that he dropped everything and posted the video on Twitter with these words: “Thank you to @MSNBC!”

There’s just one problem. Trump cut off the video while Dilanian was still talking. And what he had to say had a direct bearing on how Trump’s involvement with Russia should be perceived. For instance, Dilanian said that Democrats on the committee never thought they would find “a contract between Trump and Vlad saying ‘Hey, let’s collude.'” And what Dilanian said immediately after the point where Trump cut the video was this (video below):

“The disagreement comes, though, over that pattern of contacts that we’ve all seen and heard about over the last few years. More than a hundred contacts between Trump campaign officials and Russians. The Democrats say that those remain highly suspicious and that there’s a pattern here that still raises questions. […] And Robert Mueller still has yet to weigh in. And that’s a big question because Robert Mueller knows things that the Senate investigators do not have access to.”

You have to wonder if Trump would have still thanked MSNBC if he had the courage and honesty to present the full video in context. What’s more, Dilanian also tweeted that “The Senate intelligence committee has not found evidence exonerating Trump, either.” And that’s the heart of the matter. The Senate committee deliberately limited the scope of their investigation to avoid stepping on Mueller’s toes. So their conclusions are not what anyone would describe as, well, conclusive. But they still couldn’t clear Trump af anything, and the final word rests with Mueller.So Trump should not be planning his big exoneration party just yet. However, if he wants to thank MSNBC for anything, perhaps it should be for how they are killing Fox News in the ratings. Thanks indeed.

How Fox News Deceives and Controls Their Flock:
Fox Nation vs. Reality: The Fox News Cult of Ignorance.
Available now at Amazon.

The Trump Effect: More Countries Now View the Influence of the U.S. as a ‘Major Threat’

One of the most recognizable personality flaws of Donald Trump is his compulsion to brag about everything he does as the bestest, most awesomest of whatever it is in the history of mankind. To be fair, he is entitled to some credit in specific areas. For instance, no president has ever been documented as telling more lies (8,000+) than Trump.

Donald Trump

However, pretty much everything that Trump has done more of than anyone else has had a decidedly negative impact on the country and the world. They include his withdrawal from the Paris Accords on Climate Change, his ditching the Iran nuclear treaty, his tax scam that benefitted only corporations and the wealthy, and his shutdown of the government over a useless and ineffective vanity wall along the southern border.

To this list we can now add a new accomplishment. According to a worldwide survey by the Pew Research Center, The United States is now seen by more nations as a “major threat” than prior to Trump’s presidency:

“More people now say [the U.S.] is a threat than in 2013 and 2017. Indeed, in 10 countries, roughly half or more now claim that American power is a major threat to their nation.” […]

“The largest change in sentiment among the global threats tracked are for those who see U.S. power and influence as a major threat to their countries. In 2013, only a quarter across 22 nations saw American power as a major threat to their country, but that jumped substantially to 38% in 2017, the year after Trump was elected president, and to 45% in 2018.”

That represents a twenty-five percentage point increase from the presidency of Barack Obama to the Trump regime. Many of the countries with the highest increases are neighbors and allies like Mexico (64%) and Japan (66%). Germany, France, and even Canada reported significantly greater concerns about the threat of U.S. influence. And all of these numbers rose in sync with survey results showing “a strong connection between seeing America as a threat and lack of confidence in U.S. President Donald Trump.”

It’s notable that this PEW study focuses on what the global community regards as threatening, and that most of them cite Climate Change at the top of their list. Of the twenty-six countries surveyed, fifty percent consider Climate Change to be the most serious threat they are facing. That compares to less than a third who named ISIS. And the perception of Climate Change as a threat increased by eleven points worldwide, a gain that is second only to the the U.S. It’s not surprising that this rising concern coincides with Trump’s dismissal of Climate Change as a hoax.

Clearly, there is no ambiguity about the cause of this decline in the international reputation of the United States. Trump is driving America to a new low in the world, particularly with our longtime allies. It is not only embarrassing and disruptive, it is dangerous. And it is deliberate on the part of an ignorant narcissist whose only goal is to glorify himself and disparage the majority of Americans who disagree agree with him.

How Fox News Deceives and Controls Their Flock:
Fox Nation vs. Reality: The Fox News Cult of Ignorance.
Available now at Amazon.