Trump’s Dementia is Flaring Up as He SCREAMS Inanities About Phony Poll Numbers and MSNBC

Posted by Mark NC on February 22, 2025 at 12:39 pm. 3 Comments :

After the first full month of Donald Trump’s reoccupation of the White House, it’s safe to say that the bloom is coming off the roasted pretender to the presidency. Trump’s standing with the American people has never been particularly good. From his first foray into politics he has struggled to get within the vicinity 50 percent.

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Now, in record time, Trump has rocketed to the bottom the pile of unpopularity. As of February 2025, the only presidential poll numbers worse than Trump’s during what is supposed to be the “honeymoon” period, are Trump’s numbers from 2017.

SEE THIS: Trump 2.0 Begins with Approval Ratings that Rank Below Every Other President Dating Back to 1953

Undeterred by reality, Trump continues to insist that he is universally beloved. He employs that delusion to gaslight his grossly gullible cult disciples. And he has no shame whatsoever in boasting about the sort of adoration that he imagines is enjoyed by his idols, Vladimir Putin, Xi Jinping, and Kim Jong Un.

To that end, on Saturday morning Trump posted a couple of comments on his failing Twitter ripoff, Truth Social, that reek of a rancid combination of acute derangement and malignant narcissism, shouting in all caps…

“HIGHEST POLL NUMBERS EVER. I GUESS WE ARE ON THE RIGHT TRACK!!! THANK YOU.”

Followed by…

“MSNBC, COMMONLY KNOWN AS MSDNC, IS A THREAT TO OUR DEMOCRACY. SUCH LYING AND MISREPRESENTATION. BAD PEOPLE AT THE TOP!”

It appears that Trump was ticked off by MSNBC host Rachel Maddow’s reporting that his approval rating has slipped into negative territory by every recent survey. What’s more, virtually every policy that he has advocated is also underwater, including those that he has clung to desperately, such as immigration and the economy. So naturally, he had to lash out at MSNBC and post his own fantasy numbers that, in his psychotic state, were not only positive, but the highest EVER!

Crybaby Trump is very upset that MSNBC and other news outlets are reporting his abysmal approval ratings.

— News Corpse (@newscorpse.bsky.social) 2025-02-22T18:55:25.115Z

Trump’s perverse perceptions of his popularity are mirrored in his hostility toward the media. He simply cannot abide the truth being told about him. So much so that he has embarked on an unprecedented campaign to suppress the press freedoms that are enshrined in the Constitution’s First Amendment. This has not gone unnoticed by media advocates. Reporters Without Borders put together a concise summation of Trump’s assault on free speech titled: “One month of Trump: Press freedom under siege.” It began…

“[Donald Trump], his administration, and his political allies have conducted a rapid series of attacks on press freedom that amount to a monumental assault on freedom of information. [and] has systematically undermined the news media’s First Amendment rights.

“However, in Donald Trump’s war on the press, the American people are the ultimate victim.” [And] “Trump wants to make this about him versus the press. In reality, this fight is about Donald Trump versus every American’s First Amendment rights.”

Meanwhile, there is some potentially good news from MSNBC. The network is considering expanding Jen Psaki’s role. Perhaps they are considering giving her Andrea Mitchell’s old time slot. The network is also mulling an expansion of “The Weekend” to weekdays as well. They would be wise to take some of that time away from Morning Joe Scarborough, and/or Katy Tur.

Trump, of course, would hate any of those schedule changes. It would just mean more accurate coverage of his efforts to undermine democracy and elevate his authoritarian aspirations. And you know he’ll be watching. He can’t help himself. He thrives on the antagonism that it stirs in his shriveled heart-like organ. If he isn’t careful, he’s gonna give himself an aneurism or two.

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Trump’s Anti-Press Secretary Talks More to Fox News than to Reporters in the White House

Posted by Mark NC on February 21, 2025 at 1:26 pm. 2 Comments :

From the earliest days of his public life, Donald Trump has had a love-hate relationship with the media. He whines incessantly anytime he is portrayed in a negative light (e.g. honestly), but craves the constant attention that satiates his massive, yet fragile, ego. It’s a perverse dichotomy that adds fuel to his flaming malignant narcissism.

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This acutely psychotic ambivalence is evident in Trump’s frequent references to the media as “the enemy of the people,” while simultaneously demanding perpetual, round-the-clock coverage of whatever he is doing or saying regardless of how utterly devoid of newsworthiness or coherence. For instance…

SEE THIS: Trump Bashes the Media as ‘The Enemy’ While Being Fluffed on Fox News By Sean Hannity

The dysfunctional relationship between Trump and the press is all too painfully observable in the behavior of his press secretary, Karoline Leavitt. She views her job as one where she acts as the official White House Trump-Fluffer, rather than as a servant of the people tasked with informing the public about critical presidential activities.

To that end, Leavitt has spent most of her time during the first month of Trump’s occupation of the White House visiting with Trump’s Ministry of Propaganda, Fox News. Media Matters reports that she has already made twelve appearances (nearly every other day) on the MAGA-friendly network, along with her White House colleagues who similarly camp out on Fox.

“Top Trump administration officials have appeared on Fox News 124 times since President Donald Trump was sworn in. At least one key nominated or appointed official appeared nearly every day of the past month.”

Leavitt’s tally for Fox News hits comes in third, after Trump’s “border czar,” Thomas Homan (20 visits), and his Counselor to the president, Alina Habba (15 visits). Furthermore, Leavitt’s twelve appearances on Fox is nine more than she has made to the White House Press Briefing Room, where in the past month she has only held three of what used to be called “daily” press briefings.

This is pretty solid evidence that the Trump regime regards Fox News as its certified media dispensary for approved propaganda. Even more so than the White House itself. And it has the advantage of being a safe space where they will encounter only Fox fluffers, and none of those other pesky journalists who ask real and challenging questions with appropriate follow ups. How much more Trumpy can a network get than by actually giving the president’s daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, her own primetime show?

As an example of the sort of discourse that the Trump team hopes to avoid, watch this exchange between Leavitt and Peter Alexander of NBC News Friday morning, when Alexander attempted to get her to comment on allegations by Trump of fraud in the Social Security system…

ALEXANDER: Fraud, of course, is a crime. So have you turned over evidence of fraud to the Justice Department, and when should we expect to see those indictments?
LEAVITT: It’s a clever question…There has been extensive fraud. If you look at Social Security. In fact, according to an IG report, from the Social Security Administration, there was $71 billion worth of fraud in one single fiscal year that we know about.
ALEXANDER: To be clear that $71 billion was from 2015 to 2022. So it wasn’t in just one year.

ALEXANDER: Fraud is a crime. Have you turned over evidence of fraud to the Justice Department, and when should we expect to see those indictments?LEAVITT: It's a clever question

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) 2025-02-21T17:07:50.845Z

That retort by Alexander was as far as he would get with Leavitt. She repeatedly refused to accept reality, and eventually cut him off with a personal insult saying “Why is the media so against cutting waste, fraud, and abuse? [and] We will not be deterred by people like you.” For the record, Alexander was right. The alleged “fraud” did occur between 2015 and 2022, mostly during Trump’s term. And they knew that, as revealed in their own tweet (below). As previously reported…

To begin with, the improper payments were discovered by the Inspector General during Biden’s term. There was no fraud associated with them. Most were overpayments to eligible recipients that were likely recovered. The total amount was only 0.84% of all Social Security payments. Which is evidence that the system is pretty darn efficient.

TRUMP'S RAPID RESPONSE: An Inspector General audit of Social Security during the Biden admin found $72 billion in "improper" payments.

NOT MENTIONED: The payments weren't fraud & were only 0.84% of all payments.

Also, they were found without DOGE by an IG who Trump later fired. https://t.co/wLf9p9RGR8

— News Corpse (@NewsCorpse) February 18, 2025

When the White House press secretary is on Fox News more than in the White House Press Briefing Room, there is a serious problem that reeks of an administration that is determined to deceive, distort, and disseminate propaganda. At this point there is no rational reason why any news organization should tolerate the Trump regime’s lies and disrespect for the free speech that is protected by the First Amendment to the Constitution. It is long past time to cease their capitulation to the aspiring monarch of Mar-a-Lago.

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The Media Must Boycott Trump’s Phony Press Conferences Until He Stops Censoring Journalists

Posted by Mark NC on February 12, 2025 at 12:32 pm. 2 Comments :

There have been a disturbing amount of firsts achieved by Donald Trump as he commences his second occupation of the White House. None of which would foster pride in any honorable man or woman. They include his being the first president convicted of felonies; the first adjudicated as a rapist; the first barred from running a charity; and the first to openly admire, praise, and seek to emulate vile dictators like Vladimir Putin, Xi Jinping, Kim Jong Un, and even Adolf Hitler.

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Trump is also the first president to hold the free press in such contempt that he repeatedly refers to it in Stalinist terms as “the enemy of the people.” And no American leader before him has sought so aggressively to undermine the constitutional protections of the press provided in the First Amendment. The white hot intensity of Trump’s hostility toward the media is reflected in his nominee for FBI Director, Kash Patel…

SEE THIS: Trump’s Free Press? His FBI Flunky Kash Patel Threatens to ‘Come After the People in the Media’

The latest example of Trump’s anti-press obsession is his response to a perfectly reasonable editorial decision by the Associated Press concerning Trump’s preposterous plan to rename the Gulf of Mexico to the “Gulf of America.” The AP noted that “Trump’s order only carries authority within the United States.” Then they elaborated saying that…

“The Gulf of Mexico has carried that name for more than 400 years. The Associated Press will refer to it by its original name while acknowledging the new name Trump has chosen. As a global news agency that disseminates news around the world, the AP must ensure that place names and geography are easily recognizable to all audiences.”

That decision is entirely within the rights of the AP to make as they see fit, and within the principles of professional journalism. However, in Trump’s egomaniacally twisted view, he imagines that he has the right to punish the media whenever they do something that offends him personally. Consequently, Trump issued an order banning the AP from Oval Office media events. That is pure, unadulterated censorship that violates the Constitution. The AP responded saying that…

“Today we were informed by the White House that if AP did not align its editorial standards with President Donald Trump’s executive order renaming the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America, AP would be barred from accessing an event in the Oval Office. This afternoon AP’s reporter was blocked from attending an executive order signing.

“It is alarming that the Trump administration would punish AP for its independent journalism. Limiting our access to the Oval Office based on the content of AP’s speech not only severely impedes the public’s access to independent news, it plainly violates the First Amendment.”

The AP was not the only media enterprise that was appalled by the tyrannical behavior of Trump. Eugene Daniels, president of the White House Correspondents’ Association, said that…

“The White House cannot dictate how news organizations report the news, nor should it penalize working journalists because it is unhappy with their editors’ decisions. The move by the administration to bar a reporter from The Associated Press from an official event open to news coverage today is unacceptable.

“The WHCA stands with The Associated Press and calls on the administration to immediately change course.”

Craig Aaron, President and Co-CEO of Free Press Action, testified before Congress Wednesday and enumerated the attacks on the free press by Trump and his administration that “is using the power of the government to shake down the media and quash dissent.” Including…

Trump’s FCC chairman (and Project 2025 co-author), Brendan Carr’s threats to revoke broadcast licenses because he doesn’t like the viewpoints he sees on TV.
Trump’s lawsuit against CBS News for $20 billion because he didn’t like how 60 Minutes chose to edit an interview with Kamala Harris.
Disney/ABC, Meta, maybe now CBS — paying tens of millions of dollars to settle specious lawsuits. They appear to be paying off the president to shield themselves from reprisal or gain regulatory favors.
All the billionaire owners of these companies line up on the dais at the president’s inauguration clutching million-dollar checks to show their loyalty.

MORE HERE: Trump Hurls Hate and Fear at All of the Media He’s Suing Following the ABC News Capitulation

Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) also made an impassioned speech defending the free press and condemning Trump’s censorious assault on the AP…

“Yesterday, Donald Trump banned the Associated Press, a 179-year-old newspaper organization, from the White House because it declines to call the Gulf of Mexico the ‘Gulf of America.’ This is straight up press censorship based on retaliatory viewpoint discrimination. Trump’s DoD kicked out eight newsgroups that had space in the Pentagon, but which asked skeptical questions of the new Secretary. Including the New York Times, NBC News, and the Washington Post. All ousted in favor of outlets willing to faithfully advance the party line of the state, like Breitbart and One America News Network.”

Raskin: "Yesterday, Donald Trump banned the Associated Press, a 179-year-old newspaper organization, from the White House because it declines to call the Gulf of Mexico the "Gulf of America." This is straight up press censorship based on retaliatory viewpoint discrimination."

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) 2025-02-12T15:24:14.097Z

For these, and so many other reasons, the media needs to stop pussy-footing around with Trump. He is virulently opposed to the mission of the free press in America, and he couldn’t care less about the Constitution’s explicit protections. And now that he has escalated his attacks to actually banning journalists for doing their jobs, the press must stop giving him the attention he craves to disseminate pure propaganda.

His press conferences are nothing more than staged photo-ops where he badgers and bullies reporters without answering their questions. Instead he replies with known lies, infantile insults, and noxious self-exaltation. Then he filibusters until his nannies usher the reporters out of the room.

News outlets don’t need to be present to suffer that disrespect and abuse. They can send interns to record the nonsense that he spews, and then report on it later with proper context and fact-checking. That will surely drive Trump crazy(er), as he seethes in an empty room yearning for the adulation he covets to satisfy his narcissistic lust.

UPDATE 2/14/2025: Trump has escalated his war on the AP. They have now been banned indefinitely from the Oval Office and Air Force One.

UPDATE 2/22/2025: The AP is suing the Trump administration to rescind its unconstitutional ban on their reporters.

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Jim Acosta’s Parting Words for CNN (and Trump): It Is Never a Good Time to Bow Down to a Tyrant

Posted by Mark NC on January 28, 2025 at 1:38 pm. 2 Comments :

The media barons who control the biggest news platforms in America have spent the weeks following the election of Donald Trump affirming that they are cowardly supplicants to his tyrannical intimidation, and/or greedy slaves to the almighty dollar. Either way, they are proving to be utterly unreliable sources for honest news that speaks truth to power.

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The Constitution’s shielding of the free press is apparently insufficient to buttress these weak-hearted pseudo-journalists whose primary objectives now appear to be sucking up to Trump and his MAGA cult disciples. They behave as if they are hostages being forced to deliver fear-drenched messages prepared by their captors. And the Trump team isn’t shy about hurling threats aimed at the media that he regards as “the enemy of the people.”

SEE THIS: Trump’s Free Press? His FBI Flunky Kash Patel Threatens to ‘Come After the People in the Media’

On Tuesday morning CNN’s longtime, respected anchor, Jim Acosta, announced on the air that he is leaving the network after 18 years. His decision to quit came after Trump-fluffing executives at CNN sought to banish him to a sparsely watched overnight time slot. Rather than take that insult and ingratitude for years of service, Acosta chose to head for greener pastures. And on the way out the door he gave a moving account of the principles that have guided him throughout his career, and that also serve as a warning to his media colleagues…

“You may have seen some reports about me and the show, and after giving all of this some careful consideration and weighing in alternative timeslots CNN offered me, I’ve decided to move on. […]

“As the son of a Cuban refugee, I took home this lesson: It is never a good time to bow down to a tyrant. I have always believed it’s the job of the press to hold power to account. I’ve always tried to do that here at CNN, and I plan on doing all of that in the future.

“One final message. Don’t give in to the lies. Don’t give in to the fear. Hold on to the truth and to hope.

Jim Acosta announces on air that he's leaving CNN and says, "it is never a good time to bow down to a tyrant … don't give in to the lies."

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) 2025-01-28T16:01:17.662Z

Those are powerful words that, under normal circumstances, would have a profound affect on fellow journalists, Unfortunately, these are not normal times. CNN and other news organizations have already given in to the lies and the fear. And the source of both is the current pathological fear monger occupying the White House. As evidence of just how dangerous Trump’s menacing assault on the media is, he provided an example in his response to Acosta’s resignation…

“Wow, really good news! Jim Acosta, one of the worst and most dishonest reporters in journalistic history, a major sleazebag, has been relegated by CNN Fake News to the Midnight hour, ‘Death Valley,’ because of extraordinarily BAD RATINGS (and no talent!). Word is that he wants to QUIT, and that would be even better. Jim is a major loser who will fail no matter where he ends up. Good luck Jim!”

True to form, Trump lashes out like a colicky infant who is consumed by his toxic narcissism and thirst for vengeance. He doesn’t bother to offer any support for his allegations that Acosta is a “dishonest reporter.” But that’s only because there isn’t any support for that. Although Trump does project his own leadership in the “major sleazebag” competition onto Acosta.

Furthermore, while CNN’s ratings have been pretty dismal of late, Acosta’s program has led the network in each of the time periods where he has been scheduled. So Trump’s assertion that Acosta’s fate was determined by “extraordinarily BAD RATINGS” is a flagrant falsehood. And Trump’s prediction that he “will fail no matter where he ends up,” is unlikely to pan out. Acosta can only improve his status by moving to another network, almost all of which have better ratings than CNN. And he can also choose to start his own media operation that could surpass the boundaries of legacy media.

It’s uncanny how many of the adjectives that Trump unleashed in his harangue against Acosta that apply more accurately to Trump himself: “worst,” “most dishonest,” “major sleazebag,” “fake,” “no talent,” and “major loser.” And while he did manage to swindle enough gullible voters to regain the presidency, he will still fail miserably, because that’s all he’s ever done at anything he’s attempted.

Sadly, Trump’s failures now will draw a lot of other innocent people down with him. So it is more imperative than ever to remain alert and to resist his destructive agenda. Remember, the mid term elections in 2026 could return Democrats to the majority in Congress. And Trump has already committed numerous impeachable acts.

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REALLY? Trump Proposes Allowing the US Government (and China?) to ‘Police’ Americans on TikTok

Posted by Mark NC on January 21, 2025 at 2:11 pm. NO Comments :

On Monday, January 20, 2025, Donald Trump was sworn into office as the 47th president of the United States of America. It was a day that will live in infamy because he’s also the first convicted felon and adjudicated rapist to occupy the White House.

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Trump lived up to his criminal inclinations by issuing a tsunami of execrable executive orders, including one that granted pardons to the more than 1,500 January 6th insurrections who stormed the Capitol, assaulted police officers, and threatened members of Congress, in order to help Trump undermine democracy. His inauguration address, and subsequent speech to his cult followers, were testimony to his tyrannical aspirations, and were riddled with lies.

SEE THIS: Trump’s Inauguration Day Rants Affirm that He is a Wannabe Dictator and a Pathological Liar

Further evidence of Trump’s anti-American leanings were revealed during his executive disorder signing ceremony in the Oval Office. There were innumerable comments that exposed his malice and ignorance. But when he was presented with the order to delay the banning of TikTok – as required by law – he volunteered a statement that confirms his aversion to the Constitution…

Passed in Congress, it gives the president the right to make a deal or to close it. And we have 90 days to make that decision. But I could see making a deal where the U.S. gets 50% of TikTok. Polices it a little bit, or a lot. Depends on them.

Doocy: Is the TikTok CEO open to that idea?

Trump: I think he would probably like it. Because he has got nothing. They really have nothing.. I could see making a deal with the U.S. Gets 50%, polices it a little bit or a lot. pic.twitter.com/TRxCHE0rNl

— Acyn (@Acyn) January 21, 2025

There’s a lot of derp to unravel in that drivel. Let’s start with the fact that the law does not “give the president the right to make a deal or to close it.” The law requires that TikTok be sold or blocked from U.S. users. There is a 90 period within which a challenge may be filed, but that’s a legal challenge, not the prerogative of the president.

Furthermore, there is nothing in the law that allows the U.S. government to own 50% of the social media app. That would be blatantly improper and illegal. This was previously spelled out when Trump first floated his proposal for “saving” TikTok from the evil American “communists” who seek to prohibit the app run by “friendly” Chinese communists….

Trump seems to think that the U.S. government can be a business partner with a Chinese social media company that is suspected of improperly utilizing data collected from American users. That is wrong on many levels. First of all, it puts the U.S. in the position of collaborating with China to “spy” on American citizens. Secondly, it makes the U.S. government a profit partner in an otherwise private business. And thirdly, it violates the First Amendment by putting the U.S. government in a position to moderate (i.e. approve and/or censor) the speech of U.S. citizens.

The last item in that analysis has now been affirmed by Trump who says that it would be okay if his unlawful joint venture with China “Polices it a little bit, or a lot.” That could not be a more flagrant breach of the First Amendment. It puts the U.S. government in the position of censoring free speech. Even worse, it could also give China the same power over the speech of Americans. But Trump wasn’t through parading his recklessness and ignorance. He also said that…

“I may not do the deal or I may do the deal. TikTok is worthless. Worthless, if I don’t approve it. […] If I do the deal it’s worth maybe a trillion dollars. […] If I do the deal for the United States, then I think we should get half.”

Trump on TikTok: I may not or he may do the deal. Tiktok is worthless. Worthless, if I don't approve it. I think the US should to get half of TikTok… I think we would have joint venture pic.twitter.com/1G7mITDr2D

— Acyn (@Acyn) January 21, 2025

True to form, Trump is making up preposterous numbers to validate his delusional thinking. For one thing, TikTok has value that transcends its U.S. user base. In fact, TikTok has about a billion users worldwide. About 170 million of them (17%) are in the U.S. So while the loss of that audience would be significant, TikTok would still have 83% of its current users.

Also, what the heck does Trump mean by “we should get half.” Who is “we”? What part of the U.S. government would the ownership of TikTok fall into? Would it be run by the White House? The Treasury Department? The Agency for Global Media that oversees the Voice of America? Who knows? And Trump doesn’t say. Also, where does the money go?

These are just some of the questions raised by Trump’s nonsensical meanderings. And finally, it’s notable that Trump’s current support for TikTok is a flagrant flip-flop from his prior position…

As Trump tries to take credit for "saving" TikTok, remember he was the instigator of the ban & bragged about it 2 years ago. The bill he advocated was introduced by Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX). Democrats opposed it."Right about everything"? More like right-wing about everything.

— News Corpse (@newscorpse.bsky.social) 2025-01-19T21:06:04.990Z

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Trump’s Press Secretary Plans to Turn the WH Briefing Room Into a Pro-Trump Propaganda Mill

Posted by Mark NC on December 20, 2024 at 2:10 pm. NO Comments :

From the earliest days of Donald Trump’s political life he has had a love/hate relationship with the press. He loved when it brought him the attention that he craved. But he hated when it failed to exalt him as Gawd’s gift to humanity.

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Trump’s malignant narcissism is evident in nearly every public utterance he makes. And the common thread that weaves through all of his inbred hostilities is his abhorrence of the media that he regular refers to in Stalinist terms as “the enemy of the people.” Just since the recent election, Trump has taken to threatening the national news networks with revocation of their broadcast licenses (which don’t exist), and the nomination of his devoted cult disciple, Kash Patel, who shares his animosity toward the press…

SEE THIS: Trump’s Free Press? His FBI Flunky Kash Patel Threatens to ‘Come After the People in the Media’

One of Trump’s primary goals for his reoccupation of the White House is to remake its relationship with the media. To that end, he dispatched his press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, to deliver a message via his Ministry of Propaganda (aka Fox News), regarding the restructuring of the White House Press Briefing Room. Leavitt openly explained precisely how she intends to poison the process by which the press informs the public about presidential affairs.

“I hope the legacy media will take a step back and realize that the American people haven’t listened to their lies. Trust in the legacy media is at an all-time low. And Trump ran in an untraditional media lane on the campaign trail. Big part of the reason he won. Because he sat down with podcasters and social influencers and new voices that the American people are clearly listening to. And as Trump’s press secretary, we’re gonna find new ways to bring those voices into the briefing room as well. Which I think will be a very effective way to continue to get the president’s message out to the American people.”

.
https://twitter.com/Acyn/status/1869937440485704102/

Leavitt is right that trust in the media is low. Although a big part of the reason for that is Trump’s constant whining about any criticism of him as “fake news.” Another reason is that much of the press has been too timid to call out Trump’s blatant lies and his inability to speak coherently on any subject. The result is that he gets to filibuster interviews with deceit, deflection, and gibberish. None of that inspires trust.

However, Leavitt is wrong to propose that the White House Press Room should open its doors to the sort of “podcasters and and social influencers” who kissed Trump’s – let’s say ring – during his campaign. The Press Room is not supposed to be an outlet for partisan propaganda. It is there to provide journalists with access to the president and his staff in order to inform the public.

Leavitt’s vision – and Trump’s – is to turn the Press Room into a propaganda mill where only those who have sworn allegiance to Trump will be able to ask questions that they know will illicit positive responses that glorify Dear Leader. That’s the recipe for fascism that is cooked up by the totalitarian dictators who Trump reveres and seeks to emulate.

If the press ever hopes to raise the level of trust that they receive from the public, they need to reject this new perversion of press relations with the White House. They need to condemn it as a farce that violates the Constitution’s First Amendment protecting freedom of the press. And they need to resist Trump’s efforts to subjugate them to the servitude of his ego. Will they rise to the occasion? Stay tuned.

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Trump Hurls Hate and Fear at All of the Media He’s Suing Following the ABC News Capitulation

Posted by Mark NC on December 16, 2024 at 2:42 pm. NO Comments :

The forecasts of doom that have proliferated since Donald Trump managed to squeak by to win a second term occupying the White House are coming true even before he’s been inaugurated. And the reality is proving to be even worse than the predictions. He is promising to rule in the model of his totalitarian heroes, and his proposed Cabinet is a House of Horrors.

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Last week ABC News agreed to settle a lawsuit filed by Trump against the network for $15 million. The suit alleged that “This Week” anchor George Stephanopoulos had defamed Trump by asserting that he had been found liable for rape by the jury in the defamation case filed by writer E. Jean Carroll. However, it was the judge who, after the fact, said that Trump’s assault amounted to rape, as the term is generally understood. The jury only found that Trump was liable for sexual abuse. And Trump seems to regard being a confirmed sexual abuser as a victory.

SEE THIS: TRUMP WINS? ABC News Settles His Lawsuit Confirming that He Was Found Liable for Sexual Abuse

Following the ABC News settlement, Trump is already talking excitedly about his efforts to punish other media with vengeance-fueled lawsuits. It is his way of terrorizing the free press that he refers to in Stalinist terms as “the enemy of the people.” So in an impromptu press conference Monday morning, Trump lashed out at the media in his typically hostile manner.

Trump began his rant about suing the media (at 30:33 in the video below) with an inane threat to sue the Des Moines Register over a poll that showed him losing the election, which he called “fraud” and “election interference.” Then he went to discuss his lawsuit against CBS News saying that…

“We’re filing one on 60 Minutes, where they took Kamala’s answer, which was a crazy answer, a horrible answer. And they took the whole answer out and they replaced it with something else she said later on in the interview. […] And that was fraud. and election interference by their news magazine, a big part of CBS News.

Of course, none of what he said is remotely true. 60 Minutes did nothing more than to make routine edits for time and clarity. Nothing they did impacted the content or context of the interview. But that didn’t stop Trump from demanding that the license for CBS – and ALL broadcast networks – be revoked. [Note: The federal government does not license networks, only individual stations]. And he was just getting started. He continued…

“We’re involved in one, which has been going on for a while very successfully, against Bob Woodward, where he didn’t quote me properly from the tapes. And then on top of everything else, he sold the tapes. Which he wasn’t allowed to do.”

Once again, Trump is lying. Woodward taped his conversations with Trump for the book, RAGE!, and used them for that purpose. Furthermore, he quoted Trump verbatim, and has the tapes to back that up. In the book Woodward documented how Trump lied and downplayed COVID when he knew just how deadly it was. But he still wasn’t finished. He went on…

“And we have one very interestingly on Pulitzer, because reporters at the New York Times, Washington Post got Pulitzer prizes for their wonderful, accurate, and highly professional reporting on the Russia, Russia, Russia hoax. Well, it turned out to be a hoax, and they were exactly wrong.”

This may be the most absurd lawsuit of them all. Trump isn’t suing the New York Times or the Washington Post. He’s suing the Pulitzer committee at Columbia University, who are entirely within their rights to award prizes as they see fit. What’s more, Trump claims that the articles documenting his unsavory associations with Russia “turned out to be a hoax,” that “now everybody admits.” Which could not be farther from the truth. Even the Republican led Senate Intelligence Committee report affirmed the Trump/Russia connections.

Trump also spent some time flattering his Ministry of Propaganda, Fox News. He babbled that…

“Sean Hannity got it right. Many people got it right. Tucker [Carlson] got it right. Jesse [Watters] got it right. Laura [Ingraham] got it right. Jeanine [Pirro] got it right. A lot of people got it right. They didn’t get anything. They gave it to reporters that got it absolutely wrong. And now everybody admits it was a hoax. And I want them to take back the Pulitzer prizes and pay damages. […]

I feel I have to do this. I shouldn’t really be the one to do it. It should have been the Justice Department, or somebody else. But I have to do it. It costs a lot of money to do it. But we have to straighten out the press. Our press is very corrupt, almost as corrupt as our elections.”

The only things that any of them got right, at least from Trump’s perverse perspective, was their unwavering adoration of Trump and conformity to his worldview. And any deviation from that will result in punitive measures that will be carried out by his administration, overseen by his nominee for FBI Director, Kash Patel, who has sworn to “come after the people in the media.”

Will the media allow this unconstitutional persecution of the free press to proceed? Hopefully the surrender by ABC News isn’t the consensus answer to that question.

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Trump’s Free Press? His FBI Flunky Kash Patel Threatens to ‘Come After the People in the Media’

Posted by Mark NC on December 1, 2024 at 12:54 pm. 1 Comments :

It is becoming more apparent every day that Donald Trump has abandoned any pretense of presidential leadership or responsible governing, He is now fully committed to a juvenile campaign of trolling his perceived enemies, “owning the libs,” and exacting retribution for wrongs he believes he has suffered.

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What else could explain the collection of crackpots that Trump has nominated to positions of considerable power in his emerging administration? It is no wonder that Trump is refusing to allow his nominees to undergo FBI background checks. So far the weirdo roster includes a brain-wormed, anti-vax, conspiracy theorist, Robert F. Kennedy Jr, to run the Department of Health and Human Services, a blatantly unqualified, sexual deviant, Pete Hegseth, as Defense Secretary, and an alleged pedophile with no legal experience, Matt Gaetz, (who has already been dropped for being even too ridiculous for the MAGA-philes) for Attorney General? The only apparent prerequisite for a job in Trump’s White House is unflinching adoration for Trump and an apprenticeship at Fox News.

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

However, Trump may have outdone himself with his latest proposed nominee. He is putting the name of Kash Patel up to be the Director of the FBI. As usual, Patel has little to no experience for the job he is being tasked to preform. What he has is an extraordinarily brown nose and a record of performing any evil or illegal stunt that Trump asks of him. That includes being a relentless election denier, covering up Trump’s theft of classified documents, and being an accomplice in Trump’s attempts to stage a violent coup on January 6, 2021.

There are a multitude of examples of Patel’s manifest unsuitability to serve in the upper echelon of federal legal affairs. But one particular example stands out. During an appearance on Steve Bannon’s War Room, Patel spoke about what he would do if put in a position of power. And it had nothing to do with fighting crime or making the nation safer. He ranted that…

“We’re going to come after the people in the media who lied about American citizens who helped Joe Biden rig presidential elections. We’re going to come after you. Whether it’s criminally or civilly, we’ll figure that out. But, yeah, we’re putting you all on notice. And this is why they hate us. This is why we’re tyrannical. This is why we’re dictators.”

Kash Patel to Steve Bannon: “We’re going to come after the people in the media who lied about American citizens who helped Joe Biden rig presidential elections. We’re going to come after you…This is why we're tyrannical. This is why we're dictator.”pic.twitter.com/DMeqVfiO8z

— News Corpse (@NewsCorpse) December 1, 2024

Yes, indeed. That IS why they are tyrannical dictators. Patel’s first priority is to persecute the free press that accurately reported on Trump’s serial criminal activities. This would be an implementation of Trump’s visceral hatred of the free press that he calls “the enemy of the people.” He has already sought to suppress the media by filing innumerable, meritless lawsuits against a variety of news organizations. He has even threatened to revoke the licenses of the networks. Licenses that, by the way, do not exist, so therefore, cannot be revoked. But that doesn’t mean that he can’t do damage in other petulant ways.

In addition to his assaults on the media, Trump intends to retaliate against honorable officers and prosecutors who brought January 6th insurrectionists to justice. He is focused intently on inventing crimes related to Trump’s “Big Lie” that the 2020 election was “rigged.” And he will seek to legally terrorize upstanding FBI operatives who recovered the stolen classified materials that Trump lied about hoarding at his Mar-a-Lago home/hotel.

Trump posted his announcement about Patel on his failing Twitter ripoff, Truth Social, saying that…

“I am proud to announce that Kashyap ‘Kash’ Patel will serve as the next Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. […] He played a pivotal role in uncovering the Russia, Russia, Russia Hoax.”

First of all, Trump cannot unilaterally announce that Patel “will serve as the next Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.” Only that he is being nominated. The Senate must confirm the nomination before Patel can assume the post. And due to the highly controversial nature of this nomination, there is some doubt as to whether the narrowly divided Senate will provide their consent.

Secondly, Trump’s announcement explicitly cites one of the best reasons to block Patel’s confirmation. The role he played in trying to hide Trump’s unsavory and well documented associations with Russian officials and operatives was arguably as treasonous as Trump’s own actions. There was no “hoax” with regard to Trump and Russia. And Patel didn’t uncover any wrongdoing. He participated in it.

The opposition to Patel’s nomination isn’t coming solely from Democrats. Trump’s National Security Advisor, John Bolton, said that “The Senate should reject this nomination 100-0.” And Trump’s Attorney General Bill Barr wrote in his book that he “categorically opposed making Patel deputy FBI director,” telling Trump’s Chief of Staff Mark Meadows that it would happen “over my dead body. Someone with no background as an agent would never be able to command the respect necessary to run the day-to-day operations of the bureau.”

It is also notable that for Patel to assume the directorship of the FBI, the current Director, Christopher Wray, would have to resign or be fired by Trump. Wray, by the way, was appointed by Trump in 2017, after he fired James Comey for not sufficiently sucking up. A shortcoming that Wray may soon be punished for by Trump.

The unmistakable path toward tyranny that Trump is traveling should alarm every American who cherishes the principles this nation was founded on. His flagrant efforts to silence the media is his way of insuring that he gets away with his authoritarian takeover. But with the Patel nomination, he may be overreaching. And that could give a couple of Republicans in the Senate the courage to stand up to him and for democracy. And that’s all it would take to sink the nomination of Patel.

Ironically, Trump’s overreach may actually stiffen the spines of Republican senators after they get a taste of independence by rejecting Gaetz and possibly Patel. They may just have the integrity to also ditch Kennedy, Hegseth, Tulsi Gabbard, and some of the other more reprehensible nominees. That may be a lot to hope for, but if we the people make our voices loud enough, they might actually hear us and do the right thing.

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YIKES! Trump’s Press Briefing Room Could Be Populated By Fawning Sycophants and MAGA Trolls

Posted by Mark NC on November 30, 2024 at 2:03 pm. NO Comments :

As the administration of Donald Trump continues to take shape, the vile nature of the beast is becoming unmistakable. Although he campaigned on “draining the swamp,” it is clear that his true intention is to fill it to the brim with toxic sludge. That would explain his proposed department heads whose total lack experience compliments their preposterous policies.

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Among Trump’s ill-considered staffers are the likes of Robert F. Kennedy Jr at Health and Human Services, Matt Gaetz at the Justice Department (now succeeded by Pam Bondi because Gaetz was TOO sleazy), and Pete Hegseth (whose own mother castigated him as an “abuser” of women) at the Defense Department. The “qualities” Trump’s nominees share are primarily unwavering fealty to Trump, and having served previously on Fox News.

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

The nightmare roster of Trump’s Cabinet should not deflect our attention from other critical White House offices that Trump is determined to debase. For instance, Trump is reported to be planning an overhaul of the White House Press Briefing Room. His animosity toward to the media is well known, repeatedly referring to it in Stalinist terms as “the enemy of the people.” His hatred of the free press is further evident in his serial lawsuits and threats against news enterprises that have committed the offense of telling the truth about him.

The latest wrinkle in Trump’s anti-media campaign is his focus on restricting who will be admitted into the Briefing Room. Politico is reporting that…

“‘Both the strategy and the press briefing room will likely look a whole lot more like the media consumption habits of the American voters of today versus the 1980s,’ said a Trump official granted anonymity to discuss plans still in the works. ‘I could very well see a press briefing room where Maggie Haberman sits next to Joe Rogan.'”

Oh Great! Trump wants to replace reputable journalists with fawning sycophants and MAGA trolls. To be sure, there are some serious problems with the way that mainstream media has covered Trump over the past few years. They have been far too felicitous, too timid with regard to calling out Trump’s pathological lying, and too quick to normalize or “sane-wash” his incomprehensible babbling.

However, that’s not a reason to ditch the media. It’s a reason to fight to reform it. Even in its current state the media has provided significant information about Trump’s criminal activities and his associations with nefarious players, including agents of hostile foreign adversaries.

We can wave goodbye to any of that sort of reporting if Trump has his way and the national newspapers and television networks are replaced or overshadowed by people like Rogan, Steve Bannon, Tucker Carlson, Megyn Kelly, Nick Fuentes, Laura Loomer, Alex Jones, etc.

Just imagine the sort of questions that the aforementioned Trump-fluffers would ask of his doting press secretary, Karoline Leavitt. Following his imposition of inflationary tariffs, they would ask how quickly his policy will make all Americans wealthy? After Ukraine falls due to Trump withholding aid, they would inquire as to how much better life will be under Russian rule. As more women and others suffer and die as a result of his weakening or repealing Obamacare, they will seek to learn more about his proposed raw milk cure for the new pandemic.

The purpose of hosting journalists in the White House Press Briefing room is to hold the administration accountable and gather information to keep the nation’s citizens informed. But under the reign of Trump it would shift to disseminating pure propaganda intended to disinform, and exalt Dear Leader.

This will make the job of real journalists that much harder. Not just because gathering relevant news will be more difficult, but because breaking through the wall of official propaganda will be a challenge. We will need to come up with new ways to to communicate and to validate the news. And the White House will become an obstacle to those goals. Is the media in its present form capable of operating in this new environment? They – and we – better be.

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Fox News Asks Biden’s Press Sec if He Apologized to Trump for Saying He’s a Threat to Democracy

Posted by Mark NC on November 13, 2024 at 2:57 pm. NO Comments :

The unfortunate outcome of the presidential election last week is already sending spine-chilling reverberations across the political landscape as the ghastly consequences of another Donald Trump occupation of the White House become impossible to ignore.

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The shape of Trump’s Cabinet has become deplorably clear in the past few days. His nominees so far reflect his inherent corruption, ignorance, aspirations of autocracy, and the shallowness of a former reality TV game show host. Most of his picks are closely associated with his Ministry of Propaganda, Fox News.

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

Trump has not yet named his choice to be his press secretary. But rest assured that it will be a brazenly dishonest purveyor of self-serving falsehoods. In the meantime, we should appreciate the press secretary currently serving President Biden, Karine Jean-Pierre.

At Wednesday’s daily White House press briefing, the noxious odor of Fox News wafted into the room as a reporter from their business network, Edward Lawrence, was called upon to ask a question. True to form, it was a preposterous question that had nothing to do with any matter of concern to the American people. Instead, he sought to manufacture a melodrama out of the morning meeting that Biden had with Trump…

Lawrence: We saw a unified front related to a transition in the Oval Office meeting. But a lot was said on the campaign trail like ‘Trump is a dangerous threat to our country and our democracy. Was there an apology today?
Jean-Pierre: I’m sorry? Apology from whom? I’ve answered this a couple of times with respect to democracy in the past week. The President is always going to feel obligated to be honest with the American people. What he says still stands. And it’s not just him. You heard this from former [Trump] staffers.

KJP responds to a question about if Biden apologized to Trump during their meeting today for calling him a threat to democracy: "What he says still stands. And it's not just him. You heard this from former [Trump] staffers." pic.twitter.com/YPJY4MEydz

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) November 13, 2024

Biden had nothing to apologize for. He told the truth about Trump. And as Jean-Pierre went on to note, is was Trump’s own close associates who were the ones that raised the question of his threat to democracy. It was his White House Chief of Staff, Gen. John Kelly, his Defense Secretary, Gen. James Mattis, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Mark Milley, and others who said that Trump was a fascist who praised Hitler. Trump himself made statements that were overtly threatening to democracy, such as branding his critics as “the enemy within.”

Lawrence’s question also neglected to mention that Trump used the very same language aimed at Biden and Vice-President Kamala Harris, who he said, without a shred of evidence, were threats to democracy. But Lawrence didn’t bother to ask whether Trump apologized. Unrattled by Lawrence’s purposeful provocation, Jean-Pierre gave a calm and coherent response…

Jean-Pierre: What we also want to be very clear about is listening to the will of the American people. There was an election. It is important to respect our institution. It is important to respect the free and fair election. And that’s what this President is doing.

America needs to prepare itself for what’s to come in the White House Press Briefing room. Axios is reporting that Trump is expected to “shake it up.”

“Trump’s first administration tried to ban outlets it saw as unfavorable from off-camera press briefings. That included the New York Times, Politico, CNN and BBC.” […]

“Any efforts to expand access to daily press briefings to pro-Trump outlets, such as Steve Bannon’s War Room, would need to come at the expense of existing outlets.”

So get ready for briefings that feature folks like Bannon, Alex Jones, and Laura Loomer. The “mainstream” media reporters from the New York Times and CBS and NPR will all be banished as “fake news.” And Trump’s press secretary is likely to be someone like his former attorney Alina Habba or his daughter Tiffany. Which means the rest of the media had better grow a spine and be prepared to protect the very notion of a free press.

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