{"id":44505,"date":"2020-03-22T13:33:58","date_gmt":"2020-03-22T20:33:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=44505"},"modified":"2021-03-30T12:10:59","modified_gmt":"2021-03-30T19:10:59","slug":"while-america-hunkers-down-trump-exploits-the-crisis-to-campaign-for-reelection","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=44505","title":{"rendered":"While America Hunkers Down, Trump Exploits the Crisis to Campaign for Reelection"},"content":{"rendered":"

Remember back in the olden times when there were Democratic primaries that dominated the news? There was a “Super”<\/em> Tuesday and people were anxiously and excitedly exercising their civic duties to vote for the candidates of their choice. That all seems like so long ago. And now they are anxious for a completely different reason.<\/p>\n

\"Donald
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The remaining candidates in the Democratic presidential race – Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders – have purposefully put the brakes on their official campaign activities. That’s the responsible thing to do when a global pandemic has erupted and is spreading rapidly throughout the nation and the world. However, while the Democrats are acting responsibly, Donald Trump has chosen to behave in a manner that is consistent with his narcissistic psychoses. Even while the entire country is focusing on how to survive during these challenging times, Trump is focusing on himself and his own best political interests.<\/p>\n

Let’s face it, Trump’s presence is utterly irrelevant<\/a><\/strong> at the daily Coronavirus Task Force briefings. He has no useful knowledge or experience to offer. To the contrary, he most often unleashes blatantly false “information”<\/em> that his own advisers have to later refute. He wastes valuable time either attacking legitimate journalists<\/a><\/strong> who are asking pertinent question, or embracing propagandists<\/a><\/strong> whose questions are nothing more than overt suck ups. Much of his comments are simply boasting about what he asserts are unprecedented accomplishments and victories that exist only in his self-serving imagination. And he insists on presenting an absurdly rosy scenario that ignores reality and dangerously understates the risk we all face. It’s one thing to offer hope, but another to deliberately mislead.<\/p>\n

There is only one reason that Trump is showing up at these briefings, and that is to advance his reelection prospects. He has turned what should be a vital information channel into a crass campaign PR affair. That’s why he avoids any discussion of the hardships that the American people are enduring. and it’s why he so brazenly exalts himself and his phony achievements. These are nothing but extended political ads for Trump. They are also Trump’s replacement for the cult rallies<\/a><\/strong> that he can no longer have.<\/p>\n

In addition to Trump’s cynical commandeering of the press briefings, he has likewise devoted his Twitter account to his reelection effort. In the past week Trump has tweeted hundreds of times. The vast majority of those have been retweets of two varieties: Fox News bootlickers lavishing undue praise on him. And messages from his Republican Senate comrades (more than 50 in three days). It is impossible to miss the fact that Trump incessantly retweets only GOP members of Congress bragging about legislation to address the health – physically and financially – of the American people. It’s as if there aren’t any Democrats working on these bills, despite the fact that they authored most of them.<\/p>\n

The lengths that Trump is going to to make Democrats invisible is further evidence of his politicization of this crisis. He will need a Republican majority in congress if (gawd forbid) he is reelected in November. So these retweets are another thinly veiled campaign tactic on Trump’s part. Virtually every reference to Democrats on his Twitter feed is negative. That is not how a conscientious leader would work to bring the nation together in turbulent times.<\/p>\n

The bottom line is that Trump isn’t interest in bringing people together. He’s only interested in extending his power and disparaging his perceived enemies. He may think he’s clever by trying to disguise his political ambitions in staged press briefings and innocuous tweets, but the only people he’s fooling are his glassy-eyed cult disciples and – unfortunately – some members of the press.<\/p>\n

If the media were living up to the principles that govern a free press, they would cease to cover his briefings live. There would be nothing lost by taping the events and spending a few minutes fact-checking before putting them on the air. But it would prevent more disinformation from being disseminated to the public. And it would stop Trump from unscrupulously hijacking otherwise vital communications to get free ad time.<\/p>\n

If anything is a “must watch”<\/em> this is:<\/p>\n

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Maddow: If Trump is going to keep lying like he has been every day on stuff this important, we should, all of us, stop broadcasting it. Honestly, it's going to cost lives. pic.twitter.com\/tMvyrE3YTK<\/a><\/p>\n

— Maddow Blog (@MaddowBlog) March 21, 2020<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n