Who Should Fill Andrea Mitchell’s Now Vacant Slot on MSNBC? Jim Acosta? Mehdi Hasan? Or…

MSNBC anchor Andrea Mitchell hosted the last episode of her program on Friday. Her departure was announced last October in a statement that indicated her interest in doing “more of what I love the most: more connecting, listening and reporting in the field.”

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Jim Acosta, MSNBC

Mitchell will retain her role as chief Washington correspondent and chief foreign affairs correspondent. However, no one has yet been named to fill her 12:00pm ET time slot. That leaves some interesting possibilities for the network to counter Trump’s war against the free press that he refers to as “the enemy of people.”

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

Among the prospective candidates to succeed Mitchell is former CNN anchor, Jim Acosta. He recently chose to ditch CNN when they tried to banish him to an overnight wasteland, despite his having higher ratings than most of his CNN colleagues. It’s clear that the network’s brass were determined to kiss up to Trump by silencing one of his most honest and effective critics. Acosta signed off by warning that…

“It is never a good time to bow down to a tyrant…Don’t give in to the lies. Don’t give in to the fear. Hold on to the truth and to hope.”

Other potential replacements might include current weekend MSNBC hosts, Katie Phang, Ali Velshi, Alicia Menendez, Jonathan Capehart, and Ayman Mohyeldin. Another intriguing possibility would be to bring back former host Mehdi Hasan, an insightful journalist who was popular with MSNBC viewers before he was let go. Although he may not be available now as he has started his own successful media enterprise, Zeteo.

Replacing Mitchell with Acosta or Hasan would serve the dual purpose of pissing off Trump. Of course, he will attack whoever gets the spot with his hallmark hatred of anyone who dares to criticize him. And he has a special place in the decaying organ where his heart should be for MSNBC. Some of his recent outbursts include…

You take a look at MSDNC, how evil they are. They’re evil. They’re sick. They shouldn’t even be allowed to do what they do. Because it’s so corrupt. They shouldn’t be allowed to do it.”

MSNBC (MSDNC) uses FREE government approved airwaves, and yet it is nothing but a 24 hour hit job on Donald J. Trump…Our so-called ‘government’ should come down hard on them and make them pay for their illegal political activity.”

MSNBC, often and correctly referred to as MSDNC (Democrat National Committee!), should be investigated for its ‘Country Threatening Treason.’”

One option that MSNBC must resist is giving another hour of air time Morning Joe host, Joe Scarborough, who is already controlling four hours every weekday morning. The last thing the network needs is to lean closer to the Trump-fluffers at Fox News.

Speaking of which, Fox just announced its own new host, Trump’s daughter-in-lawlessness, Lara Trump. Which is their way of affirming that the network has abandoned any pretense of being anything other than Trump’s Ministry of Propaganda.

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Morning Joe’s Craven Capitulation to Trump is Just Cause for MSNBC to Consider Pulling the Plug

Whenever an emerging totalitarian regime starts to reveal its intentions, there are weak citizens and organizations that seek to get in front of the tyrannical train and declare their allegiance to the dawning dictatorship before it actually assumes power.

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Donald Trump, Woman, Fear

That display of spinelessness was evident when the Washington Post and other media enterprises withheld their endorsements of Kamala Harris prior to the election. It’s especially disturbing when comedy news satire programs are more credible journalists than mainstream media…

SEE THIS: The Media Still Doesn’t Get the Danger that We – and They – Are In, But the Daily Show Does

With the election behind us, it took less than two weeks for a usually reliable news network to fall under the spell of the demagogic cult leader, Donald Trump. On Monday morning the hosts of Morning Joe, Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski, opened their program with a report on their recent visit to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home/hotel. It was not exactly a story of courage or journalistic integrity (video below). Mika began…

“Over the past week, Joe and I have heard from so many people from political leaders to regular citizens deeply dismayed by several of president-elect Trump’s Cabinet selections, and they are scared. Last Thursday, we expressed our own concerns on this broadcast and even said we would appreciate the opportunity to speak with the president-elect himself. On Friday, we were given the opportunity to do just that.”

Joe said that he talked to Trump about a lot of issues, including those with which they disagreed. “What we did agree on,” Mika said, “was to restart communications” [and that] “He seemed interested in finding common ground with Democrats on some of the most divisive issues.” And if she believes that Trump has any genuine interest in finding common ground she is terminally naïve. She continued…

“We have been as clear as we know how in expressing our deep concerns about President Trump’s actions and words in the coarsening of public debate, but for nearly 80 million Americans. election denialism, public trials, January 6th, were not as important as the issues that moved them to send Donald Trump back to the White House with their vote. Joe and I realized it’s time to do something different and that starts with not only talking about Donald Trump, but also talking with him.”

First of all, Trump had less than 77 million votes, and only about two million more than Harris. It was one of the closest elections in modern times, and not in any way a mandate for Trump, or reason for Democrats to cave in. Furthermore, merely because Trump came out slightly ahead is no reason to forget the atrocities he was responsible for, including the violent January 5th insurrection, and his dozens of felony charges and convictions.

Joe suggested that “this is a president who is not seeking reelection, so maybe, just maybe now could be time for both parties to get to work.” Which is patently absurd. Trump is not thinking about reelection as a factor in pursuing his authoritarian power grab. In fact, he may not be thinking about ever having to stand for election again at all, while still staying in power.

Mika added that “Hyperbole and personal attacks will not work. My hair on fire doesn’t work. We have all seen that. What also does not work is threatening political opponents with arrest, harassment and even jail. That is a failed path.” Of course, she’s wrong. Trump succeeded with his threats and fear mongering and therefore, will see no reason to abandon those tactics now. Continuing…

“We know that this will be a consequential presidency. The question is whether it will be constructive. It will take a new approach from all sides, from both parties, and a leader who can bring them together. And only time will tell if Donald Trump can be that leader.”

Wrong again. Trump has no intention of bringing anyone together. He has said so explicitly, reiterating his threats against his critics, political opponents, and the media.

Joe closed by saying that he is “not here to defend or normalize Donald Trump.” But that’s precisely what he is doing. How else can he justify cozying up to someone he once compared to Hitler? A comment that drew a response from Trump’s spokesperson threatening that “their sad, miserable existence will be crushed when president Trump returns to the White House.”

This would be a good time for MSNBC to reconsider whether having Joe and Mika on for three hours every weekday is really a good idea while Trump and his regime are dismantling democracy. And it will be interesting to see how their network colleagues (Rachel Maddow, Chris Hayes, Jen Psaki, Alex Wagner, Nicole Wallace, etc., respond. Katie Phang has already made her feelings clear…

https://x.com/KatiePhang/status/1858520409710182606

UPDATE: CNN is reporting that “According to two sources with direct knowledge of the matter, Scarborough and Brzezinski were credibly concerned that they could face governmental and legal harassment from the incoming Trump administration.” [and that] “the incoming Trump administration could use its wide-ranging powers to punish people deemed enemies.”

So in other words, the cowards capitulated.


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BIDEN: Trump is Riding Around in His Golf Cart at Mar-a-Lago Talking to His Wealthy Friends

Nearly two weeks ago, President Biden debated Donald Trump on CNN and unfortunately fell short of offering an accounting of himself that could have buried the convicted felon and adjudicated rapist before a national audience of millions. It was a missed opportunity to pull ahead of Trump and coast to victory in November.

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Donald Trump, Joe Biden

For the two weeks that have transpired since, the media has been doing a great disservice to the nation by obsessing over President Biden’s age, while ignoring his successes with the economy and foreign policy, as well as Trump’s pathological lies and incoherence bordering on insanity. And it’s not as if Trump’s debate performance was anything but an embarrassing excretion of flagrant falsehoods and infantile insults.

SEE THIS: FTR: Felonious Trump Gave 3 Times as Many False Statements as President Biden in the CNN Debate

Furthermore, Biden has spent the past two weeks doing rallies and interviews – 18 so far – in order to demonstrate his vigor and competence as a proven leader. And where has Trump been? Well, let’s let Biden tell us what he told Morning Joe on MSNBC this morning…

“Trump’s just a liar. And he hasn’t done a damn thing since the debate. He’s been riding around in his golf cart for 10 days down in Mar-a-Lago talking to his wealthy friends.”

Exactly!. Trump’s avoidance of the press and the public is typical of his cowardly campaign strategy throughout this election cycle. The only public appearances he makes are before rapidly shrinking crowds of his glassy-eyed cult disciples. And the only interviews he grants are with certified Trump-fluffers on devoted propaganda outlets. And even those are having a hard time living down to his demands for total capitulation to unflinching adoration.

Biden also told Joe Scarborough that he is adamant about his decision to stay in the race and beat Trump – again. The decision voters have to make now is historically unique. It isn’t just one candidate or the other. It’s a decent leader with integrity, or a criminal, wannabe dictator that half the country thinks should be in prison. Biden reiterated some of his reasons for running, saying that…

“I’m running because I never bought into the trickle-down economics theory. I never bought into the notion that we have to walk away from the rest of the world and cave to Putin or anybody else.” [and that] “I’m confidant that’s where the American people are…I don’t care what the millionaires think.”

Trump meanwhile, continues to boldly run away from his own positions and platforms, such as “Project 2025,” a handbook for fascism, that was authored by many of his closest associates. He likewise continues to spew utterly bizarre tales that bare no resemblance to reality (e.g. fantasy death by batteries or sharks, all Democrats favoring overturning of Roe v Wade, Biden orchestrating his 34 felony convictions, etc.).

Biden’s post-debate appearances have shown him to be alert and engaged and compassionate about advancing the interests of the American people. Trump, however, has burrowed himself into his Mar-a-Lago bunker among the wealthy guests who worship him. But his conspicuous absence from the campaign trail raises questions about his own fitness for office. Will the press interrupt their marathon Biden-bashing to explore any of those questions? To be determined…

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HUH? Trump Celebrates Fox News Ratings, the Network He Says is ‘Terrible’

Apparently the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic is over. And the nation is no longer in recession. And the 40 million unemployed Americans have all gone back to work. And there is no more civil unrest in the streets due to systemic racism. And Russia has revoked their bounties on American soldiers in Afghanistan. This is what you’d have to assume based on what Donald Trump has made his priorities.

Donald Trump Fox News

On Wednesday morning Trump was busily conducting his presidential Twittery. He was taking a break from his other main duties, golfing and watching Fox News. However, Fox wasn’t far from his wobbly consciousness. Prominent within his Twantrums were shout outs to the State TV network that so reliably disseminates Trump-fluffing propaganda. He tweeted that he…


And…

It’s almost needless to say that Trump, a former reality TV game show host, is badly misrepresenting reality. As published in the Hollywood Reporter, the ratings performance for the second quarter of 2020 showed unprecedented gains across the board for the news media:

“All three major cable news networks set ratings records in the second quarter of 2020, as ongoing stories including the coronavirus pandemic and racial justice protests drove viewers to Fox News, CNN and MSNBC.

“The three channels recorded double-digit gains over the same period in 2019 in total viewers and adults 25-54. All three also delivered their biggest viewer tallies ever in both total-day averages and in primetime.”

Fox News predictably came out on top because they have no competition for the wingnut audience they pander to. However, the margin of victory was hardly worth celebrating. In the key advertiser demographic of 25-54 year olds, Fox drew 366.000 viewers. CNN was close behind with 335,000, and MSNBC was narrowly lower with 315,000. Those are the rankings for what Trump characterized (and egocentrically thanked himself) as being “so far below … that you can barely find them.”

Trump lying about ratings – or anything else – won’t surprise anyone anymore. But it’s notable that after fourteen years on television, Trump is still obsessed with the medium and even believes that ratings are a better measure of popularity than scientific polling (they aren’t). But it is interesting to note the schizophrenia poking through Trump’s already diagnosed malignant narcissism. The fact that he’s congratulating Fox News for a ratings win comes after months of attacking Fox for being just another fake news front for liberals and Democrats.

Just in the past few weeks, Trump has whined that “The @FoxNews Polls are a JOKE!” ( a familiar complaint) He raged that “Fox is terrible!” He fumed that “FoxNews is doing nothing to help Republicans, and me, get re-elected on November 3rd” (because he believes that that is their purpose). And he griped that “FoxNews is working hard pushing the Radical Left, Do Nothing Democrats.” Yeah, sure they are.

Trump can’t seem to figure out whether he loves Fox or hates them. But while he has committed himself to finding another network to carry his poisoned water, he still schedules his interviews almost exclusively with Fox. To be sure, he has some justification for being perturbed with his Ministry of Propaganda. One host recently speculated that Trump might drop out of the race due to his abysmal polling. But overall, Fox News is as biased in favor of Trump and his Republican confederates as ever. The problem is that they aren’t always 100% blindly loyal to him as he demands of everyone in his sphere of sycophancy. And that’s enough for him to go careening wildly off the rails.

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

Trump’s Manic Twitter Tantrum Displays Contempt for the Constitution and Democracy

The United States is currently being tested in a manner that no one could ever have anticipated. During a global pandemic that has been most devastating for the U.S. (100,000+ now dead), the nation is burdened with a “president” who not only couldn’t care less, but is certifiably insane. His malignant narcissism, vicious hostility, infantile conduct, moral depravity, and cringe-worthy ignorance, make him uniquely unfit and dangerous.

Donald Trump

In recent days Trump has upped his crazy with nauseating and morbid attacks, including accusations of murder directed at Joe Scarborough of MSNBC, and sick meme postings of a coffin with Joe Biden’s name on it. Trump’s psychotic behavior has resulted in rapidly declining approval ratings, along with plummeting electoral prospects. Politico’s Morning Consult poll has Trump at 40% approval. Fox News has him at 44%. Even his favorite pollster, the notoriously biased Rasmussen, has his approval at 42%, the lowest in that poll since January of 2018, two and a half years ago. And Trump is trailing Biden in every recent national poll at RealClearPolitics, as well as in most of the crucial swing states.

Reality has taken its toll on Trump’s emotional state. He is becoming more unhinged and uninhibited in his rabid lunacies. That’s precisely what psychological professionals would predict for someone with Trump’s acute mental malfunctions who is trapped in a downward spiral over which he has no control. And naturally, Trump’s derangement is getting flushed out on his Twitter feed. For instance…

This is pure hallucination on Trump’s part. There is no evidence – none – of the election fraud he is asserting. It reads more like his strategy for the his own campaign (“Mail boxes will be robbed, ballots will be forged & even illegally printed out & fraudulently signed”). Furthermore, California is not sending ballots to “anyone living in the state, no matter who they are or how they got there.” Only registered voters will receive them. Trump appears to be laying the groundwork for disputing the election results in November when he loses.

The lies embedded in these tweets were so abhorrent that Twitter was finally moved to act, albeit in baby steps. They attached a link to the tweets that says “Get the facts about mail-in ballots,” and directs the reader to some of the sources debunking Trump’s disinformation. But even this wrist-slapping was too much criticism for the Snowflake-in-Chief. He embarked on a multi-tweet rant whining about Twitter’s fact-checking and making bizarre and frightening threats:

And as if that weren’t enough, Trump continued his threatening outbursts on Wednesday:

Trump still wasn’t satisfied. He followed up these schizoid remarks in another tweet by promising that there would be “Big action to follow!”

UPDATE:What that “big action” turned out to be was a vengeful, retaliatory Executive Order that would make it impossible for sites like Twitter and Facebook to operate. The EO is plainly unconstitutional and will not pass legal muster, but it further reveals Trump’s contempt for the Constitution and his intention to suppress free speech. He also said about Twitter that “If it were legal, if it could be legally shut down, I would do it.” And if that brazenly tyrannical remark doesn’t frighten you, you are so deeply indoctrinated into the Cult of Trump that you no longer value what America stands for.

What all of this bombastry has in common is a distinct contempt for the Constitution. Trump’s assertion that Twitter is “stifling FREE SPEECH” fails to recognize that the First Amendment only applies to governmental censorship. You know, like what Trump is trying to do to Twitter with threats of regulating them or even shutting them down. As a private company, Twitter has the right to moderate the content on their platform. What’s more, Twitter hasn’t censored Trump at all. His tweets are still available and unedited. What Trump is whining about is that actual facts are being place adjacent to his lies. That’s something that someone with more than 18,000 documented falsehoods will surely object to.

Nevertheless, Trump believes that he has the totalitarian authority to command Twitter, and other social media, to obey his orders. When he says that “I, as President, will not allow” Twitter to provide access to truthful information, and that there is “Big action to follow,” Trump is staking a claim to dictatorship. He doesn’t have any such authority and he knows it. When asked to cite this authority on Tuesday, he dissembled and dodged the question.

That, of course, is Trump’s customary method of answering almost any question. But the mere suggestion that he could exert that sort of tyrannical control is an insult to the freedom and democracy that is enshrined in the American ethic. And therein lies the problem. Trump is as utterly devoid of ethics as he is ignorant of, and averse to, American principles. And the American people have had enough!

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

Trump Threatens to Ditch GOP Convention in North Carolina, the Only State that Wanted It.

The United States is witnessing the unprecedented spectacle of a president devolving into total mental collapse right before our eyes. Donald Trump seems to know that America is literally sick to death of him. His prospects for reelection have been squandered by his tragically inept mishandling of the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic. And his most desperate attempts to recover are sinking in a turbulent sea of his own making.

Donald Trump Walking the Plank

If Trump happens to check his favorite pollster, the disgraced and ultra-biased Rasmussen, he will see his approval at 43%, matching his low point going back two and a half years. Other polls such as Reuters (42%) and even Fox News (44%) affirm that rating. He is losing to Joe Biden in every head to head match up nationally, as well as in most of the crucial swing states.

This grim reality has apparently driven Trump off the deep end. His Twitter feed is dripping with psychotic distress. He’s accusing MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough of murder. He’s feuding with his former Attorney General, Jeff Sessions. He’s insulting critics (mostly women) as being skanks (Hillary Clinton), overweight (Stacy Abrams), and stupid (Michigan AG Dana Nessel). He even retweeted Jesse Watters of Fox News saying that President Obama will be in prison soon. And speaking of Fox News, Trump is alternately lashing out at it and embracing it with schizophrenic fury.

On Monday morning, Trump hammered out four tweets that are further evidence of his mental infirmity. He is extremely upset with with the Democratic governor of North Carolina, Roy Cooper, for not guaranteeing that the state will be fully open for business by the time the Republican National Convention is scheduled to be there. Due to the coronavirus, there may still be restrictions of certain activities and crowd sizes. But Trump is insistent that the convention be permitted to operate at full capacity no matter how many lives could be lost.

That’s no surprise coming from the president who has presided over nearly 100,000 American deaths to date that are directly attributable to his negligence, incompetence, and even deliberate malfeasance. Trump’s twitter opus whined that…

I love the Great State of North Carolina, so much so that I insisted on having the Republican National Convention in Charlotte at the end of August. Unfortunately, Democrat Governor, @RoyCooperNC is still in Shutdown mood & unable to guarantee that by August we will be allowed…

full attendance in the Arena. In other words, we would be spending millions of dollars building the Arena to a very high standard without even knowing if the Democrat Governor would allow the Republican Party to fully occupy the space. Plans are being….

made by many thousands of enthusiastic Republicans, and others, to head to beautiful North Carolina in August. They must be immediately given an answer by the Governor as to whether or not the space will be allowed to be fully occupied. If not, we will be reluctantly forced…

to find, with all of the jobs and economic development it brings, another Republican National Convention site. This is not something I want to do. Thank you, and I LOVE the people of North Carolina!

True to form, Trump is demonstrating that he is more concerned about his own welfare than that of the American people, even his own supporters. If he is set on cramming thousands of people into an arena-sized petri dish, then they should be quarantined there for 14 days following the convention to prevent them from spreading the coronavirus as they fan out across the nation to their homes. There have already been numerous reports of spiking infection and death rates in states that have loosened restrictions.

What Trump isn’t addressing in his threat to ditch North Carolina is that there may mot be any alternatives available. When the RNC originally put out the call for cities to host the convention, they ended up with with only Charlotte, North Carolina submitting a bid. That’s unheard of in the convention business. And it wasn’t because of economics, logistics, or security. The Democrats got eight bids to host their convention. So obviously the problem was Trump.

Consequently, there has been some speculation that Trump might move the event to his Doral golf resort in Miami, although he denies it. However, in his denial he accused the New York Times of engaging in that speculation, which the Times didn’t do. This is just Trump’s routine practice of disinformation to muddy the waters around whatever scandalous hole he’s trying to dig himself out of at the time.

Being as it is only about 13 weeks until the convention is to be held, there isn’t nearly enough time to find another host city that could ramp up quickly enough to pull off this large of an event. That’s even if there is a city that wants to, which was not the case when the original opportunity presented itself.

What’s more, the GOP has already invested heavily in the North Carolina site and would have to forfeit those expenditures if they cancel. So the likelihood is that the convention will proceed in Charlotte under whatever conditions the state mandates, and Trump will have to suck it up. Of course that means he will just blame the Democrats in North Carolina for his failures and elevate the hysteria in his tweets.

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

SHAM, WOW! Trump Turns the White House Into His 2020 Campaign Infomercial Agency

In these times of the COVOD-19 (coronavirus) pandemic, Donald Trump has taken to calling the American people “warriors.” Never mind that Cadet Bone Spurs is conscripting them involuntarily to service for which he steadfastly refuses to enlist. It is a noxious analogy for a public health crisis that requires leadership to align national resources and to promote rational behavior, not some pseudo-macho allusions to combat. If this were war, Trump would have to be listed as Missing In Action.

Donald Trump, Coronavirus

Trump’s latest official action to address the crisis was an executive order advising governors to declare churches as “essential” businesses. He threatened to override any state executive who failed to obey his command – an authority that he doesn’t have. In the meantime, Trump spent the past two days on his own golf course, including Sunday when the Pastor-in-Chief might otherwise have gone to one of those essential churches.

So with more than 1.5 million Americans infected and close to 100,000 dead, you might be wondering what became of the much vaunted White House Coronavirus Task force. Trump launched it to great fanfare, appointing Vice-President Mike Pence to lead the effort. The most prominent function of the group was to hold daily briefings ostensibly to update the public on the status of the pandemic and the progress made to mitigate the harm.

You’ll recall that – in true reality TV game show host fashion – Trump cast himself as the star of the show, hijacking attention from the experts who the American people really wanted to hear from. He then spent a couple of hours every day distorting the facts, bragging about imaginary achievements, shifting blame for failures to others, and yelling at and insulting reporters. It was a bizarre spectacle that even Trump’s allies could see was hurting Trump and the Republican Party. But Trump’s malignant narcissism would only allow him to see an image of himself as a beloved figure whose every act was perfect.

It was clear that Trump was using these briefing as a replacement for the cult rallies that he could no longer use to bask in the glory of his glassy-eyed disciples. He justified his role by citing the Nielsen ratings, which he was egocentric enough to believe were due to his glorious presence. In reality, viewers were tuning in to hear Dr. Anthony Fauci and other health professionals. The more people saw of Trump, the more repulsed they were. Eventually, his staff was successful in persuading him to stop exacerbating the damage.

Now we have confirmation that these briefings were just an extension of Trump’s 2020 reelection campaign. They were, in fact, nothing more than campaign infomercials. We know that because as soon as Trump stopped featuring himself as the lead character, the briefings themselves came to an end. It’s been two weeks since the last of what were daily briefings. If their purpose was actually to provide information to the public, they would have continued. Obviously, that was not their purpose. Without Trump the briefings had no point to this White House. What’s more, the supporting cast of doctors and administrators also became irrelevant as their presence in the media was immediately curtailed. And what we saw of them was mostly restricted to Fox News.

Since the cancellation of The Task Force Briefing Hour(s), Trump has created new campaign programming by showing up at various corporate facilities where he did nothing but parade around – without a face mask – pretending to be relevant. These events had no purpose other than as photo-ops for a figurehead president who has nothing better to do.

If anyone needs further evidence that Trump’s only concern about the coronavirus was with regard to how it affects him, they need look no further than his Twitter feed. This weekend he posted dozens of tweets that covered subjects that ranged from nauseating accusations that MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough is a murderer, to a Fox News assertion that President Obama would soon be in prison. He also whined about Joe Biden, mail-in voting, Michael Moore, Nancy Pelosi, the hydroxychloroquine miracle drug, his floundering polls, Jeff Sessions, and the Russia “hoax.”

However, in all of that garbage heap of hostility, self-promotion, disinformation, and infantile insults, there was one subject he didn’t address even once. That, of course, was the pandemic and its catastrophic effect on the American people. NOT.EVEN.ONCE! And that should tell you all you need to know about what this “president” cares about.

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

Schizo Trump Loves/Hates Fox News and Misses their Sexual Predator Boss

On Monday Donald Trump unleashed another in his series of desperate deflections from the COVID-19 crisis that he has tragically exacerbated by his negligence and incompetence. He volunteered to a press gaggle that he is taking the anti-malaria drug hydroxychloroquine to ward off the coronavirus.

Donald Trump, Fox News

Of course, as with everything Trump says, it needs evidence before it can be regarded as truthful. If he is taking it he is exposing himself to serious health risks for a treatment that has no proven efficacy. If he’s lying he’s encouraging his dimwitted cult followers to assume those risks. Either way it is an obvious attempt to steer the news cycle away from his inept and deadly mishandling of the raging pandemic.

Media manipulation may be the one skill that Trump puts any real effort into refining. He has proven his willingness to manufacture distractions at precisely the moment he is being scrutinized for some act of idiocy or scandal. But he doesn’t really have to be any good at it because he has Fox News to refurbish his floundering PR in the wake of his incessant bumbling. Which makes Trump’s schizophrenic, flip-flopping attitude toward Fox all the more bizarre. Tuesday morning Trump took to his Twitter machine to cheerlead for his favorite Fox News morning show, Fox and Friends.

In addition to celebrating the ratings of his Foxic friends, Trump engaged in the infantile name-calling that is the hallmark of his presidency. He is especially perturbed by MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough who has been an effective critic. Recently Trump began lobbing slanderous allegations that Scarborough murdered an intern twenty years ago. But Trump’s glee over the ratings victory for Fox comes in stark contrast to a tweet he posted just a few hours before:

There is so much wrong with that tweet that it’s really going to need some deeper analysis. First of all, anyone who watches Fox knows that the network is far more pro-Trump now than ever. With a prime time line up that consists of dependable Trump-fluffers like Sean Hannity, Laura Ingraham, and Tucker Carlson, there is a unanimity of opinion that would make North Korea’s media operation jealous. A recent example is how they virtually swapped out their coronavirus coverage in order to hype the phony “Obamagate” conspiracy theory.

Secondly, Trump is not “looking for a new outlet,” he’s already found one. He has been busily promoting the One America News Network (OANN), a tiny, little-watched, video blog that is even more worshipful of Dear Leader Trump than Fox. In fact, some of Trump’s financial backers recently bought OANN, which suggests that it may become his television home after he loses in November.

As for Trump “miss[ing] the great Roger Ailes,” that’s his testimonial to the now deceased CEO of Fox News who was terminated due to mounting evidence of his sexual harassment and assault. Ailes not only committed vile acts himself, but he actively covered up the misconduct of his colleagues like Bill O’Reilly, often paying millions to secure the silence of their victims. Naturally a sexual predator like Trump would find camaraderie in an equally nauseating pervert.

Finally, Trump’s fluctuating opinion of Fox News is just further proof of his mental infirmity. He can’t seem to remember whether he loves Fox or hates it. Here is just a sampling of the frothing hatred Trump has recently aimed at Fox News;

Despite the attacks on Fox above, he has also been dishing out effusive praise to Sean Hannity, Maria Bartiromo, Greg Gutfeld, Laura Ingraham, Brit Hume, Mark Levin, and the “Curvy Couch” potatoes of Fox and Friends. Plus, he’s done recent interviews with Fox and Friends, Bartiromo, Hannity, and Jeanine Pirro. Nearly all of his interviews since becoming president have been on Fox. So which is it, Donnie? Is Fox News part of the liberal, Democratic, Deep State, cabal that’s out to destroy you? Or is it Trump’s loyal bastion of unflinching support and blind adulation? Well, it depends on what day it is.

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

JOURNALISTS BEWARE: Trump Admits that He Will ‘Use’ and then ‘Dump’ You

In seems implausible that anyone who has paid attention for the last three years could be surprised to discover that Donald Trump is a man utterly without honor. He behaves like a colicky infant, bragging undeservedly, insulting his perceived enemies, and lying about all things great and small.

Donald Trump, Snake Tongue

When this array of acute personality flaws are present in one demented and egocentric man-baby, the result can be catastrophic. And sadly, that’s precisely what we are suffering through now as Trump’s negligent and incompetent mishandling of the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic has cost tens of thousands of American lives. The dire situation is actually getting worse according to the Trump regime’s own internal estimates that now predict the number of deaths could nearly double to 3,000 per day by June.

Despite these grim facts, Trump continues to flagrantly lie about the tragedies on the near horizon. He’s pushing to “reopen” the country to allow more businesses to operate in ways that will surely contribute to spreading the virus and increasing the death toll. And he persists with his propaganda and happy-talk in order to persuade his glassy-eyed cult followers that the worst is over and that those who still advocate caution are just trying to hurt him. In the end, all Trump really cares about is Trump.

On Monday morning Trump revealed just how afraid he is of his rapidly floundering approval, as well as his declining prospects for reelection. He tweeted one of the most repugnant and desperate comments that’s ever slithered through his Twittery fingers:

The sleazy reference that Trump is alluding to here concerns the death of an intern, Lori Klausutis, who worked in then-congressman Joe Scarborough’s office. Her death was attributed to a heart problem and the autopsy found that there was no evidence whatsoever of foul play. So Trump is reanimating this grotesque conspiracy theory in order to attack Scarborough who is now hosting a program on MSNBC. True to form, Trump resorts to childish insults, calling Scarborough “psycho” and his wife/cohost, Mika Brzezinski, “crazy.” Which are ironic choices for someone as mentally unstable as Trump, and who exhibits many of the symptoms of malignant narcissism and acute dementia. He also displays his perverse fetish with ratings, despite lying about about Morning Joe whose ratings are pretty good.

However, in addition to Trump’s nauseating rehashing of a two decade old intern conspiracy, Trump is also making an interesting confession in this tweet. He says of Scarborough and Brzezinski that he “used them beautifully in the last Election” and “dumped them nicely.” That’s an unambiguous admission of his intentional exploitation of journalists to achieve his nefarious ends.

It’s also a warning to all journalists that they should never trust Trump. Like all sociopaths, he is only in this for whatever benefit he can derive for himself. And he will roll over anyone who he regards as an obstacle. Even to the extent of slandering them with vicious lies. So the press better recognize that obsessive behavior and protect themselves from it.

Trump cannot be trusted and he must not be tolerated. In his own words he admits that it’s his intention to destroy the credibility of the press. As he told Lesley Stahl when she asked why he attacks the media, “You know why I do it? I do it to discredit you all, and demean you all, so when you write negative stories about me no one will believe you.” What more do you need to know?

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

Trump Reveals What He Cares About Now: ‘Going Around Fake News [to Lie] to the People’

The American people are struggling to cope with a crisis that most have never imagined. They are frightened for the welfare of themselves, their families, and their nation. And with the exception of a few misguided jackasses, they are bringing a profound measure of determination and courage to the fight to defeat the coronavirus pandemic and return to some semblance of normalcy.

Donald Trump Loves

And then there’s Donald Trump. From the outset of his presidency (and actually many decades before) Trump has demonstrated that the only thing he really cares about is himself. That’s repulsive and annoying for a private citizen or a reality TV game show host, but it’s frightfully dangerous for an alleged national leader.

During Monday’s Coronavirus Task Force briefing (aka Trump 2020 Reelection Campaign Infomercial), Trump was asked “Is this really the time for self-congratulations,” with nearly 800,000 Americans infected and tens of thousands dead. He responded by callously saying that “It’s not about me. Nothing is about me.”

Of course, that’s ludicrous. His answer went on to reiterate how, in his view, he is the most put upon president ever, despite all of the miraculous accomplishments that exist only in his cartoon brain. But on Tuesday morning Trump was apparently less than satisfied with his self-exaltations, so he blasted out a series of tweets lavishing more praise on himself. For instance…

These are the ravings of a malignant narcissist whose perception of reality is deeply distorted by his voracious ego. When Trump takes credit for the ratings of the task force briefings, he is proving how little he knows about ratings. He thinks that people of all political persuasions tuning in to get information from health experts about a deadly pandemic is a reflection of his popularity. It isn’t. He has been making this mistake for several weeks and is convinced that he is the Pat Sajak of COVID-19, spinning the “Wheel of Misfortune” for bored television audiences.

More to the point, Trump openly discloses what he cares about during this time of tribulations, pretending that he doesn’t care about ratings (although he can’t stop talking about them), but that “I care about going around the Fake News to the PEOPLE!”

Yep. That’s what Trump says he cares about. He could have said that he cares about the tens of thousands of dead Americans and their grieving families and friends. He could have said that he cares about overcoming the pandemic and restoring the nation’s physical and financial health. But no. He is so consumed with his own PR that he couldn’t even suppress his ego long enough to pretend that he cared about something other than promoting himself and bashing his perceived foes in the press.

Trump elaborated on this theme of self-obsession in a trio of tweets posted along with the one above. In one he confessed that he watched Joe Scarborough on MSNBC and concluded that Scarborough was filled with “hatred and contempt” and that “his mind is shot.” That’s as good an example of pure psychotic projection as you’re ever likely to see.

In another tweet Trump whined that “It is amazing that I became President,” considering what he claims was the “corrupt” and “dishonest” media going after him day and night. He isn’t the only one who thinks his being elected president was amazing. But what’s really amazing is that Trump’s glassy-eyed cult followers aren’t repulsed by his constant and cowardly victimhood.

Finally, Trump bragged that he has a “96% Approval Rating in the Republican Party.” The only problem with that is that he absolutely doesn’t. He frequently posts this lie without ever providing a link to his (non-existent) source. But even if his approval was that high, Trump still doesn’t grasp that he’s not supposed to be the president of the GOP. Which isn’t going to help him in the upcoming election. In three years he’s done nothing to expand his tiny base of dimwits, but he’s determinedly sought to exacerbate division and partisan rancor.

So the most egomaniacal president ever spent much of the morning ignoring a still spreading pandemic and tweeting about himself. And his comments revealed that he cares more about that than about the welfare of the American people. But you can still expect him to show up at today’s task force briefing (that he has no business even attending) where he will resume lying, bragging, and yelling petulantly at reporters. Some things – unfortunately – never change.

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