Continuing to demonstrate the cowardice that is an integral part of his nature, Donald Trump gave yet another interview to the only network that he isn’t afraid to be questioned by. He appeared on Fox News with the sickly sycophantic Laura Ingraham for a few minutes of fluffing interspersed with incoherent and irrelevant weaving and dodging.
The interview broke absolutely no news, making it the pointless waste of time that everyone expected. It was just Trump bragging (lying) about imaginary accomplishments and whining about how he is so beaten up by reporters. Seriously, this tough talking pile of unworthy conceit is actually so weak that, by his own account, those pesky, lightweight news nerds are ripping him to pieces. The only thing that can be described as a revelation from this softball fest is something Trump said that he didn’t mean to reveal (video below).
In a discussion that was ostensibly about his Stalinist references to the media as “the enemy of the people,” Trump tried to justify his reckless hyperbole by claiming that “It’s my form of telling the truth.” Because everyone needs their own “form” of the truth. Then he let this actual example of truth inadvertently slip out:
“We have a lot of supporters. You know that better than anybody. All you have to do is look at your ratings.”
What Trump is saying is that the proof of his popularity is evident in the ratings of Fox News. Really? That must mean that Fox News is an official arm of Trump’s administration and that their fortunes are inextricably intertwined. Which is true, but it’s not something you hear them confess very often.
The interview also addressed a couple of other media related matters. In the following exchange Ingraham helped Trump out by citing a harsh comment by a guest on CNN (who later apologized, which neither Ingraham or Trump acknowledged even though it happened hours before the interview):
Ingraham: There was a woman who was on CNN a short while ago saying that you have radicalized more people than ISIS — that was CNN today.
Trump: Well, that must be some kind of a sick woman. When I say “the enemy of the people,” I’m talking about the fake news and you know it better than anybody.
What Trump isn’t saying is that when he talks about the fake news he means almost all news, and probably everything other than Fox News and a few wingnut websites. Trump never gives an adequate explanation for his use of the “enemy of the people” line even after he is asked about it directly:
Ingraham: How does it help expand your base, to call them [the media] the enemy of the people? How does it help America heal?
Trump: That’s a very good question. Before we finish though – So we’ve done a great job with North Korea…”
Whereupon Trump changed the subject and Ingraham never brought it back up. Why should she when her assignment is to comply with the Fox News mission of falsely maligning Trump’s critics and defending him from any and all criticism aimed his way. She did that throughout the interview. And she even capped it off with this bit of twisted unfairness and imbalance: “You know they [the media] are going to be biased. […] They’re never going to be fair to you.” Left to the imagination is Ingraham’s unspoken elaboration that Trump can always rely on Fox News for unconditional fawning and slobbering tongue baths. Like the one she just gave him.
How Fox News Deceives and Controls Their Flock:
Fox Nation vs. Reality: The Fox News Cult of Ignorance.
Available now at Amazon.
Trump dismisses outrage over his attacks on the media as "the enemy of the people" by bizarrely steering the discussion toward complaining about how journalists are too hard on him over his bromance with totalitarian dictator Kim Jong-un. pic.twitter.com/C0eJRre9jF
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) October 30, 2018
Bet Jesus is weeping now.