It has long been established that Donald Trump is a malignant narcissist whose sociopathic obsessions produce a total lack of concern for anything or anyone other than himself. That sort of sickness can manifest in peculiar ways. Not only will such a person viciously castigate friends and enemies alike when sufficient adoration is not forthcoming, he might also embrace bitter foes should they offer a random compliment.
On Tuesday morning Trump had a hell-freezes-over moment. He tweeted praise for CNN, the network he rarely mentions without adding the derogatory prefix, “fake news.” His description of them in Stalinist terms as “the enemy of the people” is almost robotically attached to every reference he makes. But on the morning following the first day of the Dystopian Republican National Abomination, Trump took to his Twitter machine and posted this:
Very appreciative that @CNN covered the vast majority of the Republican Convention last night. That was really good for CNN, while at the same time being good for our Country. Thank you!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 25, 2020
Legitimate news networks don’t ordinarily get praised for reporting the news. But in Trump’s world the only thing that’s relevant is if he perceives the report to be beneficial to him. Consequently, he’s appreciative of CNN for airing what he believes was two hours of a joyous celebration of Trump. Never mind that the program was neither joyous nor beneficial. In fact, the convention that Trump promised would be overwhelmingly optimistic and hopeful was more like a nightmarish devolution into fear mongering.
White House aides said the Republican convention would show off hope and optimism. How does this sound? pic.twitter.com/NAWr2kD5BJ
— The Recount (@therecount) August 25, 2020
So in a way, Trump was right. Broadcasting more of this convention would be “good for our country.” But only because the more people saw, the more likely they would be to vote for Joe Biden.
Trump wasn’t the only one to notice the disparity in coverage from one network to another. His cult disciples were keenly aware that Fox News was repeatedly cutting away from the prerecorded speeches to feature the babbling of their anchors and analysts instead. The Trumpians didn’t like that one bit and they let it be known on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/MarkDice/status/1298178874522533888
Why does Fox News think we want to hear them yapping instead of the actual convention speeches?
Believe me – we don't.
— Catturd ™ (@catturd2) August 25, 2020
What an embarrassing night for Fox News…
— Matt Couch (@RealMattCouch) August 25, 2020
What the hell is with idiot @seanhannity cutting away from this critical speech by the McCloskeys??
I have to watch the entire speech on @CNN??
Fox News is GARBAGE. pic.twitter.com/7kipYhyleS
— David Wohl (@DavidWohl) August 25, 2020
You had ONE job, Fox News! You think I want to hear from talking heads you have on all the time interrupting the convention?! #RepublicanNationalConvention
— Anthony Brian Logan (ABL) ?? (@ANTHONYBLOGAN) August 25, 2020
As the nation turned its eyes to the stage of the Republican National Convention on Monday night, Fox News’ live coverage was notably inconsistent. https://t.co/Q6DxxQFILJ
— Breitbart News (@BreitbartNews) August 25, 2020
Can’t believe I have to watch the convention on @CNN. Unbelievable. @FoxNews
— Brad Parscale (@parscale) August 25, 2020
https://twitter.com/alexsalvinews/status/1298077746958962689
The comment by Brad Parscale is notable because he is the senior advisor (and recently demoted chairman) to Trump’s reelection campaign. But the criticism of Hannity was especially delightful. Hannity actually cut away from the convention to whine about other networks possibly cutting away from the convention, even while the other networks were airing the convention that Hannity was talking over.
It’s entirely possibly that some of the segments that Fox News declined to air were purposefully excised from their broadcast to avoid hurting Trump. The convention speeches were mostly prerecorded. So Fox News knew the content and tone before they went to air. It’s possible, therefore, that they may have seen the Guilfoyle harangue and chose not to subject their audience to what later became the most mocked address of the night. However, it’s also possible that another reason entered into Fox’s decision to erase Guilfoyle. She was, after all, fired by Fox News in 2018 for alleged sexual misconduct.
Trump’s sudden affection for CNN is unlikely to last for more than a day or two, if that. He will soon flip back to his predictable hostility as soon as anyone on CNN is even modestly critical. Meanwhile, Trump’s love/hate relationship with Fox News will continue as usual with him slobbering over sycophantic admirers like Hannity, Laura Ingraham, Tucker Carlson, Lou Dobbs and the “Curvy Couch” potatoes of Fox and Friends, and vehemently berating those who fail to worship him with unflinching devotion.
In the meantime, we’ll see if this attempt to work the refs results in changes of coverage for the remaining three days of the convention. But Trump really needs to be careful what he wishes for. By adding more coverage he will only be assuring that more people will witness the repugnance of his alleged personality and the blind reverence of the Republican cult. Which would be, once again, good for America to see.
How Fox News Deceives and Controls Their Flock:
Fox Nation vs. Reality: The Fox News Cult of Ignorance.
Available now at Amazon.
AND THEN THERE’S THIS …
This could give Trump a stroke.
"The first night of the Republican National Convention drew 15.8 million viewers across six networks, a significant falloff from the 18.7 million who tuned in to the Democratic National Convention’s debut evening."https://t.co/Ze1zDynQPE
— News Corpse (@NewsCorpse) August 26, 2020
“Ugghhh!” & “Arrrgghhh!!”
That Recount video should come with a warning to have puke bucket at the ready! (They did too good a job!)
I was unprepared for the shit-fest of lies & gross absurdities that came pouring from the mouths of those minions of devil himself! So vile, the vomitus had to keep removing what my poor ears were taking in! Was that really the Rethug Nat’l. Convention? Neither looked, nor sounded like any political convention I can ever recall ~ can remember back to year of Jimmy Carter’s win.
That was a friggin’ liars’ hate-festival, not a U.S. presidential election kick-off!
OMG! Is this what Rethugs have become under Trump? All JUST LIES & HATRED & MORE LIES??!!
Plenty of “projecting” in those lies spewed by forked tongues!
— Got no platform (That you dare tell of)??
— Can’t run on your record of great things you’ve done??
— Just lie your ass off, attacking the other guy non-stop. Maybe your voters won’t notice.
I guess you haven’t figured him out yet. He has all of you guessing his next move every day by design. This is why he is so effective. If you don’t know why people have been disappointed in Fox lately then you aren’t an avid watcher of news. And if you really think Trump doesn’t have a platform you are mistaken and if you think the RNC was “attacking” then you really weren’t paying attention.
I see you’re out there “owning the libs” again, huh? May I forward you to a neurologist? I have epilepsy and go to the top hospital in the country for treatment–Rush University Medical Center. They’ve looked at my brain many times, and found nothing unusual. If you’re capable of owning a person like me so easily, maybe you should get a brain scan! I’m sure it’ll transform the medical community forever. Like, you owned me so bad, I think you’re IQ has to be in the neighborhood of Einstein! You could *almost* say you’re smarter than Trump!