MAGA Mike Johnson Admits that the Shutdown is ‘Something that We’ve All Always Wanted to Do’

IT’S HERE! The long feared government shutdown has begun. It’s the first one since the last time that Donald Trump was occupying the White House. What does that tell you? And despite all the evidence – including the fact that Republicans control both houses of the legislative branch – Trump and his MAGA cronies are trying desperately to blame it all on Democrats.

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Donald Trump, Congress, Mike Johnson

The spin from the GOP is predictably centered on their hateful and racist fixation on immigrants. They are outright lying that Democrats are withholding their votes in order to obtain free healthcare for “illegal aliens.” Never mind that no Democrat is proposing that or even suggesting it as a condition for passage of the budget bill. And Republicans can’t provide any proof of their dishonest claim. Which is typical of the GOP.

SEE THIS: Trump Declares that He Will Not Negotiate with Democrats to Avoid Shutdown, Then Blames Democrats

Surprisingly, on Wednesday morning GOP House Speaker MAGA Mike Johnson decided to tell the truth for a change. During an interview with Fox News Senior Trump-Fluffer, Maria Bartiromo, Johnson admitted that shutting down the government was a long desired goal of the Republican Party….

Bartiromo: Trump has said that he could use this as an opportunity to further cut government and turn some of those temporary furloughs into permanent job cuts. Speaker, can you assess what you are expecting in terms of the job cuts and how severe they could be?
Johnson: Yes, the president and I talked about this at great length. While, a shutdown is very damaging for real American people who depend upon government services, it can provide an opportunity to downsize the scope and the scale of government, which is something that we’ve all always wanted to do.

So in a way, Chuck Schumer has now handed the keys to the kingdom to the executive branch under President Trump to do some things that we would not otherwise be able to do because we would never get Democrat votes for them.

Johnson: “While a shutdown is very damaging for real American people who depend upon government services, it can provide an opportunity to downsize the scope and the scale of government, which is something that we've all always wanted to do.”

The Bulwark (@thebulwark.com) 2025-10-01T14:07:33.799Z

And there you have it. Johnson has explicitly stated that the shutdown – and the brutal consequences for the American people – is “something that we’ve all always wanted to do.” And he says this even as he acknowledges that it would be “very damaging for real American people.” So clearly he has thought this through.

Johnson went on to praise Russ Vought, a principal author of “Project 2025,” who is now in charge of Trump’s Office of Management and Budget, saying that “He gets to decide now what services are essential, what programs and policies should be continued, and which would not be a priority for taxpayers.” It should be comforting to the nation to know that the author of the notorious authoritarian handbook will be making those critical decisions. Although it isn’t any more discomforting than knowing that critical decisions are already being made by Johnson and Trump considering how “unhinged and unwell” Trump is. And Johnson seems to know that too…

WOW, REALLY? In this exchange Mike Johnson…? Doesn't deny that Trump is "unhinged and unwell," just that he thinks some Democrats are too.? Claims he didn't see Trump's deranged speech to an unprecedented gathering of military leaders. Even after it made international news.

News Corpse (@newscorpse.bsky.social) 2025-10-02T09:33:51.151Z

For his part, Trump has previously expressed his agreement with what Johnson is saying now. “We can do things during the shutdown,” Trump noted gleefully, “that are irreversible and bad for them like cutting vast numbers of people out.” He’s referring to cutting people out of their healthcare programs. And for some reason Trump seems to think that this will only be bad for Democrats. It won’t be long before he finds out that Independents, and even some Republicans, are also going to be hurt – and pissed off.

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Uncaring Ignorance About Jobs and Medicaid is a Sickening Requirement to Be in Trump’s Cabinet

The lasting legacy of Donald Trump is going to be filled with examples of his craving to reign as an anti-democratic autocrat, and his insatiable thirst for enriching himself with sleazy scams. He will be forever remembered as the Grifter-in-Chief who sought the worshipful adoration of his small but noisy cabal of cult followers.

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Donald Trump

In addition to his acute case of malignant narcissism, Trump will also go down in history as the American “leader” who cherished the deliberate avoidance of intellect, declaring literally that he “loves the poorly educated.” Of course he does. Who else would vote for him? His tenure is a testament to infantile turpitude and the deranged, devolutionary dumbing down of academics in pursuit of a submissive society.

SEE THIS: WHO’S DERANGED? Trump on Biden Clones, Transgender Mice, Autopens, and His Own Mental Anguish

In a timely demonstration of Trump’s aversion to education, his Secretary of Agriculture, Brooke Rollins held a press conference to provide affirmation of Trump’s descent into Idiocracy. Responding to inquiries about how the United States will handle the consequences of Trump’s mass deportation agenda, and his “Big Ugly Bill” that slashes the budget for Medicaid, Rollins said that…

“There will be no amnesty. The mass deportations continue, but in a strategic way. And we move the workforce toward automation and 100% American participation, which with 34 million able-bodied adults on Medicaid we should be able to do fairly quickly.”

Brooke Rollins on farm laborers: "There will be no amnesty. The mass deportations continue, but in a strategic way. And we move the workforce toward automation and 100% American participation, which with 34 million able-bodied on Medicaid we should be able to do fairly quickly."

Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) 2025-07-08T14:06:46.629Z

There’s a lot of witlessness to unpack in that brief commentary. Let’s begin with Rollins’ reference to continuing mass deportations in a “strategic way.” By which she means enforcing it only in Democratic cities and states. She then moved on to her intention to replace farm laborers with automation. Although she doesn’t explain how she would automate the harvesting of agricultural crops, or why it has never been done before. Neither does she explain how the labor force would be “100% American” in this new type of harvesting that is done by machines.

Perhaps the most preposterous part of Rollins’ remarks was what she had to say about Medicaid. She believes that there are “34 million able-bodied adults” who can be immediately recruited to staff the farms of the nation. She is referring to the number of people currently on Medicaid who are classified as “able-bodied.”

What Rollins doesn’t seen to understand is that many able-bodied people receive Medicaid who are not available to work. According to an analysis by the Brookings Institute, Medicaid recipients who would be described as “able-bodied” are mostly those who are caregivers to dependent children, those with disabling mental health conditions, full time students, and those already working 80+ hours per month.

Disenrolling those recipients from Medicaid would result in severe hardships for them and their families, and would save very little money. Does the Trump administration really want the parents of minor children, and those who are caregivers to seniors or other disabled family members, and those with mental health disabilities, to be forced to relocate to farming communities and harvest fruits and vegetables?

Furthermore, the agricultural work that Rollins thinks will be undertaken by those she would strip of Medicaid coverage generally does not provide health insurance to their employees. Consequently, any medical treatment required would not be be paid for, resulting in people not getting necessary care. It would also result in the hospitals providing such care incurring costs that they could not bear and would subsequently shut down, denying care to everyone else that used their services.

The bottom line is that Rollins and Trump are advocating an inhumane policy that would cause profound harm, while saving very little federal funds. The people that the Trump regime is targeting are not freeloaders trying to sponge of the government. They are not slackers playing video games in their mom’s basement. They are honest Americans struggling to make ends meet and to keep themselves and their families healthy.

For some reason, the Trump Republicans are offended by the lesser advantaged of us and thinks that they should be punished and made to suffer more, in order to afford tax breaks for corporations and the wealthy. Very Christian of them, isn’t it?

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Trump Picks Dr. Oz (Another Fox News Hack) to Lead Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services

The Cabinet of Donald Trump is shaping up to reflect his most notable range of experience, that of a former reality TV game show host, with a reputation that was wholly manufactured by network public relations agents. Heaven forbid that Trump would select someone with the actual skills and knowledge to do the job he is appointing them to.

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Donald Trump baby with Fox News logo

The single most common characteristic of the team Trump has put together thus far is their shared employment and/or association with Fox News. To date at least ten of Trump’s proposed agency heads have been either Fox News hosts or regular contributors. They include such ill-equipped talking heads as Pete Hegseth for Secretary of Defense, Mike Huckabee for ambassador to Israel, Tulsi Gabbard for director of National Intelligence, and many more.

SEE THIS: Trump is Stacking His Cabinet with Fox News Trump-Fluffers

On Tuesday morning Trump added to that list of disrepute Dr. Mehmet Oz, who Trump is nominating to be the next administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). In the announcement that Trump posted on his failing Twitter ripoff, Truth Social, he said that…

“Dr. Oz will work closely with Robert F Kennedy Jr. to take on the illness industrial complex, and all the horrible chronic diseases left in its wake.”

Well, Oz will be working with the RFK, Jr, the guy with the dead brain worm, who collects road kill, and says that no vaccine is safe. That’s comforting. What’s more, Oz has no background in health care administration or social services. What he has is a face that Trump has seen on his TV.

As for his medical background, during the COVID pandemic, Oz “promoted the use of hydroxychloroquine, an antimalarial drug, as a cure for COVID-19 on more than 25 Fox News broadcasts in March and April 2020.” And “In April 2020, Oz appeared on Fox News with Sean Hannity and said that reopening schools in the United States might be worth the increased number of deaths it would cause.” And he has also said that he wants local political leaders to join with women and doctors in their personal decisions about abortion.

Suffice to say that this is another department within the Trump administration that would be run by an incompetent who lacks the basic skills to conduct its business. And his opinions are diametrically opposed to those of most of the American people. But fear not. Trump assured us in his announcement that he will carry out Trump’s mission to slash the budget for these healthcare programs that millions depend on, saying that…

“He will also cut waste and fraud within our Country’s most expensive Government Agency, which is a third of our Nation’s Healthcare spend, and a quarter of our entire National Budget.”

The obsession by Trump and the Republican Party to cut Social Security and Medicare is totally understandable when you recognize that they have to do it in order to pay for the tax breaks that they plan to give to corporations and the wealthy. Someone has to pay, and it sure isn’t gonna be Trump or his billionaire buddies. And if the suffering it causes happens to impact the MAGA minions in rural America, well, it’s what they voted for. It’s just unfortunate that the rest of the country will have to suffer along with them.

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Speaker Johnson Glorifies Dear Leader Trump’s Glorious Health, Rejects Calls for Medical Records

Any rational person who has been paying attention to the MAGA movement led by Donald Trump cannot help but recognize its similarities with cults from the past. He tolerates no dissension from his missionaries in politics and the press. His flock are glassy-eyed disciples who can see no wrong. And he employs the first rule of cults: Only Dear Leader will tell you the Truth. Everyone else is lying.

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Trump in Bed, Eating, Sad

The obvious parallels between cults and MAGA should strike fear into the hearts of Americans who value the democratic principles that have formed the foundation of this constitutional republic for 250 years. Trump’s emergence as a demagogic figure threatens to put an end to the freedoms that the American people have enjoyed, and replace them with servitude to the wannabe messiah.

SEE THIS: IT’S A CULT! Poll Shows Republicans Trust Only Criminal Messiah Trump to Tell Them the Truth

On Sunday morning, one of Trump’s most loyal ministers, Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson, was interviewed on NBC’s Meet the Press. And the sermon he delivered there was extraordinarily reverential and bursting with blind devotion. It was a display of unfettered fealty to his salmonesque savior. The exchange began with host Kristen Welker asking Johnson whether Trump should release his medical records – which Johnson said were “irrelevant” – but descended into flagrant lies and worshipful exaltation almost immediately.

Welker: Should Donald Trump release all of his medical records, Mr. Speaker?
Johnson: He has. He issued – he issued the records of his physicians. Kamala Harris issued her medical records as diversion because she’s desperate, because she’s sinking in the polls. Donald Trump’s health is on display. Everyone in America can see it. The man works nonstop. He never quits. He probably sleeps four hours a night. He doesn’t require as much sleep as the average person. He’s an unusual figure. And this is the strength that we need in a time like this. We’re in the most dangerous moment since World War II. You have to have strength. You have to have a steady hand. You have to have a commander-in-chief that our allies respect and our enemies fear. They do not fear Kamala Harris. They do fear Donald Trump. That’s what people are going to vote on.
Welker: Mr. Speaker, just be very clear, he hasn’t released all of his medical records. He released two letters. Should he release the results of the cognitive tests?
Johnson: It’s unnecessary. He’s on display every minute.

There’s a lot of blatant BS to unpack here. Let’s start with Johnson’s barefaced lie that Trump has released his medical records. He has not. Johnson was, however, correct that Kamala Harris did release hers. And not as a diversion (she is currently leading in most polls), but because every presidential candidate for decades – except for Trump – has done so.

The only thing Trump released was an outdated and letter with no details from last year describing a partial physical that did not include cognitive testing, and two letters from disgraced former doctor, Ronny Jackson, who claims that he treated Trump after his “ear death” experience in Pennsylvania. He did not perform a complete physical on Trump at that time. Jackson is currently unlicensed, and was demoted in retirement from the Navy due to misconduct involving drugs and alcohol.

Johnson went on to assert that Trump’s medical records weren’t needed because his perfect health was evident and that “Everyone in America can see it.” That is hardly an alternative to a physical exam by a qualified professional. Trump could have numerous problems that are not visible to laymen watching him on TV, or measurable without laboratory tests. They could include any number of bio-deficiencies or abnormal growths. And certainly any mental defect would require closer scrutiny. Although there has been a great deal of that evident in Trump’s bizarre and incoherent ravings at his rallies and in recent interviews.

Johnson also lauded Trump’s alleged stamina. But boasting that he doesn’t sleep much is more a sign of depravation than fitness. Likewise, claims that America’s enemies “fear Donald Trump” are preposterous. Mostly they laugh at him. If there is any hint of fear it’s due to his mental instability, not his strength or intellect, both of which he is lacking. Which our enemies know and are adept at manipulating him.

Trump’s failure to release his medical records is certainly due to their having bad news in them. If they were positive he would have released them on live TV weeks ago. It’s the same reason he has refused to release his financial and tax records. He is afraid to let the American people see the truth.

Johnson knows all of this, but he is to deeply indoctrinated into the Trump cult to be honest about it. In the meantime, Democrats and other sane Americans need to stay focused on winning in November. It is more imperative now than ever.

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Fox News Lies that Biden Wasn’t at a Cabinet Meeting, Even as Their Own Video Shows Him There

First Lady Jill Biden’s presence at a Cabinet meeting last week has triggered the hypersensitive conspiracy crackpots at Fox News. This is another example of how desperate they are for anything derogatory with which to smear President Biden and Vice-President Kamala Harris.

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Fox News, Joe Biden, Jill Biden, Friends

Since the Trump-fluffing propagandists at Fox News can’t find anything of substance to use against Harris, they are increasingly resorting to ridiculous trivialities and outright lies to malign the Democratic ticket. And often their pathetic criticisms are both trivial and false. For example…

SEE THIS: Fox News is Desperately Struggling to Find Dirt on Kamala Harris – Here is What They Found

On Monday morning the “Curvy Couch” potatoes of Fox and Friends launched another of their patented disinformation campaigns that are specifically designed to appeal the gullible rubes that comprise the vast majority of their audience. The segment addressed reports that Jill Biden had attended a White House Cabinet meeting.

Unveiling what the hosts – Steve Doocy, Ainsley Earhardt, and Lawrence Jones – apparently believe is a bombshell revelation about President Biden and his administration, they engaged in the following exchange…

Doocy: Regarding Jill Biden, maybe she’s saying that because she’s running the country.
Earhardt: Yeah. She was at the cabinet meeting on Friday. She was at the head of the table. Here’s a picture of her. And I was watching Fox and Friends Weekend and I turn on the TV and I see her at the end of the table and I’m, like, where is he [President Biden]? Why isn’t he at this meeting?
Jones: Miranda Devine [of Rupert Murdoch’s New York Post] writes ‘Who exactly is running the country.’ Certainly it appears to be Jill Biden and not Joe Biden.”

So Fox “News” is reporting that Biden did not attend his Cabinet meeting. And they forcefully demanded to know where he was and why he wasn’t there. But if they had bothered to watch the video that was playing while they were talking, they would have seen Biden right there at the table. Apparently that was too much to ask of these alleged journalists.

What’s more, Fox reported that the First Lady was seated at the head of the table, which they claimed was evidence that she was running, not merely the meeting, but the whole country. However, Biden’s usual place at such meetings is in the middle of the table, where he sat on this occasion as well. But Fox News was too busy digging for nonexistent dirt to pay any attention to measly things like facts. Even if they are only related to the national security implications of – seating arrangements?

What Fox neglected to report entirely was why the First Lady was there in the first place. It was because the President invited her “to give an update on the White House initiative to fundamentally change how we approach and fund women’s health services.” According to the White House transcript of the event…

“We’re grateful that Jill is here today. And here, across previous administrations, first ladies have attended these meetings and on — for specific reasons. It’s the first time Jill has joined us. And it goes to show how important the issue is, what she’s about to speak to, to both of us.”

Naturally, Fox News doesn’t want to inform their viewers that Biden and Harris are delivering tangible benefits for women. Particularly when MAGA Republicans and Donald Trump have such animosity toward them and openly hold them in contempt.

While the GOP is working to deprive women of critical healthcare, Democrats are making progress expanding those services. And the only thing that Fox News can do in response is to air asinine stories about seating arrangements and the President missing a meeting that he was actually at. And this is what they call “news.”

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Fox News Recklessly and Purposefully Puts the Life of an Indiana Abortion Doctor at Risk

Last week a heart wrenching news story broke about a ten year old girl in Ohio who was raped and became pregnant. Making the ordeal that she and her family were facing even more traumatic, the family had to take the girl to Indiana because law in Ohio would force her to carry the baby of the rapist to term.

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Fox News, Bullshit Factory

True to form, Fox News falsely asserted that the story of of the girl was fake. Tucker Carlson flatly said it was “not true.” Jesse Watters interviewed the Indiana attorney general who said that he’s investigating the Indiana doctor for unspecified misconduct. Pedophile-enabler, Rep. Jim Jordan, tweeted (and later deleted) that the story was “Another lie.” Fox’s view across the board was was that the story was a hoax aimed at “promoting” abortion and criticizing the recent Supreme Court decision that reversed Roe vs Wade.

RELATED: Jon Stewart Nails It: The Supreme Court is Now the Fox News of Justice

This week the alleged rapist was apprehended and pleaded guilty. Consequently Fox News shifted their coverage to feature assertions about the suspect’s immigration status, and attacks on the Indiana OB-GYN to whom the girl was referred.

In both cases they demonstrate that they are fixated only on the politics of the issue and have zero concern about the welfare of the child. They issued no apologies or retractions for any of the prior claims that the story as fake. Even worse, Fox News has now been identifying the doctor by name and photo, a reckless act that could put her life at risk.

There is a long history of violence against doctors and reproductive healthcare clinics. Reporting by Fox News has certainly contributed to these horrific statistics. Fox knows this, and yet they still engage in this sort of irresponsible and dangerous so-called journalism. Forbes reports that it’s getting worse…

“Abortion providers have been subject to thousands of criminal incidents since abortion became legalized in the 1970s, according to the National Abortion Federation, including 11 murders, 42 bombings, 196 arsons and 491 assaults since 1977.”

Indeed, it will get worse if Fox News gets its way. Their coverage of the issue is inciting radical right-wingers to commit more crimes, just as their coverage of Trump’s “Big Lie” does. And they are pushing those hostile themes even as they falsely accuse Democrats of promoting violence.

RELATED: Ted Cruz Lies to Fox News that Democrats are ‘Encouraging Violence’ After Roe v Wade Ruling

Democrats need to expose the callousness of Fox News and the Republican Party’s intent to encourage violent opposition to the rights of women and families. And a good start was made when Rep. Eric Swalwell righteously dressed down Jim Jordan, who was among those vilifying both the ten year old victim and her doctor…

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Tucker Carlson Smears Companies that Cover Abortion Travel Costs as Being ‘Against Families’

The Supreme Court’s ruling that overturned Roe vs Wade is an unprecedented decision that, for the first time ever, removed a Constitutional right that had been affirmed numerous times for more than fifty years. And the judges responsible for the decision were put on the court by Donald Trump, who lost the popular vote twice and tried to overthrow the U.S. government.

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Fox News, Tucker Carlson, STFU

The American people are rarely more united on an issue than they are about preserving the reproductive choice rights provided by Roe vs Wade. Nevertheless, the Republican, anti-democratic forces in Washington managed to subvert the people’s will in order to impose a religious standard on the nation, in place of a legal one.

On Friday night Carlson launched a new, and patently offensive line of attack. He lashed out at private companies seeking to provide benefits to help employees get the healthcare they need when dealing with pregnancy and family planning. In states where abortion is now – or will soon be – illegal, these benefits will reimburse employees for costs to travel to states where their health needs can be met. And despite conservatives ordinarily supporting free market positions, Carlson is hypocritically attacking companies for trying to do what they believe is best for their employees and their business. He raged that…

“It’s obvious why it’s so important to America’s corporations, almost all of whom immediately weighed in to say, ‘We’ll fly you to get an abortion at the state of your choice.’ Why? Well, of course, employees without families are loyal to the company and, of course, it’s much cheaper to pay for an abortion than it is to pay for maternity leave, or an extra name on the insurance policy. So, it’s all about the money for corporate America. It always is. Families are bad for big corporations, therefore they’re against families.”

That is glaringly wrong for so many reasons, Let’s begin with the fact that it isn’t necessarily cheaper to insure an employee who seeks an abortion. For one thing, Carlson is assuming that everyone who gets an abortion doesn’t already have a family. That’s false. It’s also flagrantly false to suggest that employees without families – by which he means children – are more loyal to their employer. As a frozen food empire trust fund baby, whose father worked for the State Department, Carlson has never had a job that wasn’t handed to him by virtue of his wealth and elite status. Where do you suppose his loyalties lie?

More importantly, Carlson is making the repulsive argument that companies make employment decisions based on what it might cost to provide an employee with healthcare. By his own perverse logic, companies would (or should?) discriminate against an applicant who is diabetic, or has congenital heart defects, or suffers any other health challenges. Even those with families.

Carlson’s conclusion that corporations are “against families,” is not only exceedingly stupid, it ignores the fact that most corporate executives have families. He is also ignoring the broad diversity of the companies that offer the travel cost benefits. They include Meta (Facebook), Dick’s Sporting Goods, Amazon, Levi Strauss, JPMorgan Chase, Starbucks, and Tesla. Among media companies offering this benefit are Disney (ABC News), Warner Bros. Discovery (CNN), and Comcast (NBC News and MSNBC).

Conspicuously absent from that list is Fox News. Either they do not offer the benefit, or they don’t want anyone to know that they do and declined to respond to inquiries. So they are either callously indifferent to their employees’ well being, or they’re raging hypocrites. And it wouldn’t surprise anyone if it turns out to be both. After all, Fox News – and especially Tucker Carlson – have demonstrated that they don’t care about the health of their employees, or their viewers. Carlson recently endorsed nicotine addiction. No, really! And when it comes to COVID, Carlson was its biggest advocate. Those aren’t exactly pro-health, or pro-employee policies.

RELATED; Tucker Carlson of Fox News Says ‘Vaccines Don’t Work and They’re Not Telling You’

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Trump Visits Fox News to Wax Idiotic About Both Economics and Pandemics

From the first days that the coronavirus was reported to be spreading throughout the world, including in the United States, Donald Trump has sought to minimize the risks and the potential that it could escalate into a full blown pandemic. He has understated the infection rate and the number of fatalities. And he has focused his attention on the economic impact, rather than the cost of human lives.

Donald Trump TV Set

On Thursday evening Trump appeared on Fox News for a town hall meeting. it was his second Fox News interview in as many days (the first being a suck up phone-in with Sean Hannity). The Fox News town hall was rife with the sort of lies and disinformation that is the hallmark of both Trump and Fox. For instance, Trump claimed that he would protect Social Security, even as he explicitly said he would be cutting entitlements. He also promised to provide “great healthcare,” despite never having offered any proposals, and actively fighting in court to kill Obamacare.

With regard to the coronavirus, which is currently the most pressing issue on the table, Trump continued his efforts to trivialize the very real vulnerabilities the nation faces. “I think we’re in great shape,” he lied, and “I think we made a great move. We closed it down. We stopped it.” Of course, he has not come close to stopping the coronavirus. It has actually spread to twenty-one states with over 225 cases in the U.S. And its containment is far from certain because we don’t even have enough test kits to identify those infected.

RELATED: Are Trump’s Cult Rallies Breeding Grounds for the Coronavirus?

However, perhaps the most troubling remarks Trump made were in connection to how the virus might impact the U.S. economy. He presented his deranged viewpoint that there is a fiscal silver lining to the suffering and death that the virus has already caused. Surely the families of the victims will be pleased to hear this (video below):

“A lot of people are staying here. They’re going to be doing their business here. They’re going to be traveling here. They’ll be going to resorts here. And, you know, we have a great place … we’re going to have Americans staying home.”

Virtually everything in that comment is patently false and without even a hint of factual basis. First of all, there is no evidence that Americans are traveling more within the U.S. To the contrary, more people are avoiding all travel, even domestically. Airlines are canceling flights due to the absence of bookings. As for doing more business, that too is unsupported by any data. Many Americans are staying home rather than risk exposure in public places like restaurants and theaters. Businesses themselves are canceling participation in conferences and trade shows, and they are limiting their employees’ travel.

What’s more, even if there were some sliver of truth to Trump’s bizarrely rosy scenario, it wouldn’t provide an economic benefit for the country. That’s because the U.S. makes more money from the spending by tourists coming here than it would lose from Americans going overseas. So there would be a net loss of revenue if Americans spend at home, while foreigners decline to visit.

There is also something notable about the alleged revenue that Trump falsely claimed would be realized by a virus-driven quarantine of travelers. Virtually all of it would come from businesses that Trump himself operates (hotels, resorts, etc.). How convenient! But the fact that the stock market has declined sharply indicates that most investors believe that the broader American business landscape is going to be hurt severely by the repercussions of this budding pandemic.

The impact on the economy by the coronavirus is really the only thing that Trump cares about. And even that isn’t because he’s concerned about people’s financial welfare. He’s only worried about how it will affect his prospects for reelection. Consequently, he needs to lie about both the inherent dangers the virus portends for human life, as well as how it influences the direction of the market. And anyone dumb enough to believe Trump’s self-serving blather is going to end up much sicker and poorer.

How Fox News Deceives and Controls Their Flock:
Fox Nation vs. Reality: The Fox News Cult of Ignorance.
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Are Trump’s Cult Rallies Breeding Grounds for the Coronavirus?

On Wednesday Donald Trump held a press conference wherein he typically underplayed the risks of the spreading coronavirus (Covid-19). He repeatedly portrayed it as being effectively under control, which is not remotely true. He even contradicted the officials he introduced as the team he was putting in charge of the matter. With the exception of Vice-President Mike Pence, they were decidedly more cautious and stressed aggressive actions to confront the impending dangers. See the video below where Rachel Maddow breaks down this contradiction.

Donald Trump Virus

Around the world there are preventive measures being taken to mitigate the risks. International conferences and festivals are canceling their events. Amusement parks, concert and sporting arenas, schools, and other locations that attract large gatherings are closing down to reduce the potential for exposure and infection. But despite these precautions being undertaken by concerned operators, there is a conspicuous enterprise that is thumbing its runny nose at the advancing virus: The Donald Trump Reelection Campaign!

That’s right. Trump is continuing to schedule and host the rallies that assemble thousands of his cult followers in sweaty, confined venues where they are tightly packed and subject to precisely the sort of transmission conditions within which the virus proliferates. None of these StormTrumpers are screened for symptoms, and their anonymity would make it impossible to trace infection origins should some of them later be diagnosed with the virus.

Ordinarily this might be regarded as an alarmist position considering the low (at this point) infection rate in the United States. And one could reasonably complain that the same concerns should be raised about Democratic political events. However, there is a profound difference that makes the prospective perils entirely dissimilar.

By belittling the scope of the coronavirus threat, Trump is actually increasing its potential for harm. And the Trump-fluffers in the press (especially Fox News) are making matters even worse by not just undercutting responsible warnings, but actually advancing conspiracy theories that assert there is no threat whatsoever. Rush Limbaugh told his listeners that the virus was nothing more than the common cold, and that it was being hyped by Democrats to hurt Trump.

This campaign of trivialization is insuring that it is Trump’s supporters who are the least informed about the reality of this budding pandemic. They are, therefore, the most likely to dismiss the risks and behave in ways that could escalate the incidence of infection. So while supporters of Democratic candidates may gather in public, they are likely to be heeding common sense advice to wash their hands, use sanitizers, cough or sneeze safely, and even stay home if not feeling well. But the Trump cultists who aren’t buying the seriousness of the outbreak, will be more likely to ignore such precautions. Consequently, they will be more likely to transmit and acquire the infection.

This is by no means a call for all Americans to cower in their basements like doomsday preppers awaiting Armageddon. But it is a warning that there are real concerns and that some simple measures can be taken to mitigate risk. But if any community of people are dismissive of the facts that are available, those communities should be avoided. Suffice to say that you are likely to be safer among a crowd of cautious Democrats who trust science, than a swarm of oblivious Republican Trumpsters in denial.

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

Trump Wants to ‘Work with Democrats’ on Healthcare After Calling Them ‘Crazy’ and ‘Treasonous’

Donald Trump and his Republican Nationalist Party got exactly what they wanted for Christmas: A federal court ruling that the Affordable Care Act (aka ObamaCare) is unconstitutional. Trump’s PR division at State TV (aka Fox News) literally celebrated the decision as a Christmas “gift.” And although many legal experts predict that the ruling will be overturned, The Trump administration is giddily slopping it up and basking in the afterglow of millions of Americans losing their healthcare coverage.

Medicare For All

In the meantime, Trump is gloating at what he mistakenly believes is a final victory in his war against all things Obama. His immediate responses to the ruling were to brag about having predicted it, followed by totally disingenuous calls for the two parties in Congress to work together to craft a brand new healthcare bill from scratch:

Never mind that Republicans had eight years to offer a replacement healthcare bill but could never do so. Now, to these insensitive remarks that ignore the suffering that millions of Americans would be forced to endure if ObamaCare were to actually be revoked, Trump added another on Monday morning:

The notion that Trump really wants to work with Democrats is laughable on its face. He has been the most hostile president to the opposing party in modern times. He has not simply disagreed with Democrats on policy or advocated for the positions of Republicans. Trump has lashed out with malicious and personal insults aimed at the party and individual members. More than two years after the election he is still shrieking at Hillary Clinton over matters that have long been resolved. And his seething hatred for Democrats still dominates most of his thoughts. For instance:

  • Trump declared that Democrats “…want Open Borders and Unlimited Crime.”
  • Trump said that “Anybody that votes for a Democrat now is crazy.”
  • Trump inexplicably claimed that “The Democrat plan would obliterate Obamacare – It will destroy Medicare.”
  • Trump even accused Democrats of being traitors for not applauding him at the State of the Union address: “Can we call that treason? Why not? I mean, they certainly didn’t seem to love our country very much.”

So now that Democrats have won majority control of the House of Representatives, Trump is feeling harmonious. Now that whatever leverage Trump had has been eroded due to the multiple criminal investigations encircling him and his crime family, he is pretending that he wants to work with Democrats to restore healthcare benefits that he and his GOP accomplices have deliberately sabotaged. Yeah, right. And this is all going down simultaneously with his threats to shut down the government over his idiotic and useless border wall.

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

There is one thing in Trump’s latest tweet that has a ring of truth to it, although not in any way that he intended. When he says that “A confirming Supreme Court Decision will lead to GREAT HealthCare results for Americans,” he may be right. Because it could lead to the implementation of Medicare-for-All. It’s already a program whose popularity is growing by the day. And with the GOP putting ObamaCare in jeopardy, more Americans, and their representatives, are going to insist on the protection of their rights and the pursuit of what’s best for their families. So we may owe Trump and his comrades some thanks for advancing universal healthcare and pushing the United States into the ranks of the rest of the civilized world.