Well, folks, The Trump Show may be cancelled. What may be considered one of the most hilarious dark comedies of the ages is about to end because the star — one Donald J. Trump cast against type in the role of “the president” — doesn’t like being laughed at.
President Donald Trump has expressed growing frustration with his daily coronavirus-related press conferences, calling them “not worth the time and effort” Saturday.
The sentiment, coming days after an erratic briefing at which Trump incorrectly suggested that injecting cleaning products could help kill off the coronavirus that causes Covid-19, has been echoed by some Republican allies, who reportedly worry that the conferences hurt the party as a whole.
On Saturday evening, Trump lashed out in a tweet about how the media has responded to his press conferences, calling reporters “hostile,” while suggesting he has helped network news receive high ratings during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Yeah, the whole planet has been laughing its butt off at you, Donnie. Deal with it.
One bit of drama I missed until I read about it this morning — before the Friday live broadcast of The Trump Show, White House officials tried to move CNN’s Kaitlan Collins from her front row position to the back of the room, switching seats with the Washington Blade’s Chris Johnson. Both reporters refused to budge. The seating positions are worked out in advance by the White House Correspondents’ Association and are not supposed to be changed on the whims of the White House. Trump’s people threatened to bring in the Secret Service to force Collins to move, but she did not budge, and the Secret Service did not get involved.
There had been a brief clash between Trump and Collins the day before.
The run-in occurred after Trump dismissed a question from another reporter about North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un’s health, saying it was based on an “incorrect” report from CNN earlier in the week. As Collins tried to ask a follow-up question, Trump interrupted her.
“No, that’s enough,” he said, adding, “The problem is, you don’t write the truth.” Collins continued to press, but Trump replied, “No, not CNN. I told you, CNN is fake news. Don’t talk to me.”
Collins had pushed Trump in other episodes, also, although she was hardly the only one. Anyway, whether it was because Collins was still in the front row or for some other reason, the star cut The Trump Show short and walked out after only 22 minutes, without taking questions.
Perhaps it was for the best; it would have been hard to top the brilliant Thursday “disinfectant” episode. Although there are rumors the writers were planning to have the “president” character suggest bombing the virus with nukes. Zany stuff!
Other Stuff to Read
Todd Tucker writes What Donald Trump Could Learn from Herbert Hoover. Although the title isn’t promising, it’s actually a good historic review of what the federal government could accomplish when it took a more robust role in addressing disasters. It’s more about FDR than Hoover.
New York Times, Closed Hospitals Leave Rural Patients ‘Stranded’ as Coronavirus Spreads. Rural hospital closings couldn’t have happened at a worse time. Blame our for-profit system.
Philip Bump and Ashley Parker, Washington Post, 13 hours of Trump: The president fills briefings with attacks and boasts, but little empathy
Politico, USDA let millions of pounds of food rot while food-bank demand soared. Note that the current head of the USDA is Sonny Purdue.
I don't agree with Trump's claim that he was using sarcasm to address hostile questions from reporters. It seemed to me more like he was using buffoonery to mask his incompetence.
Trump isn't going to cancel his show. He's going to lay low for a couple of days and then come out attacking Mexicans and any other assorted immigration issues that will rile up his base. Basically the the same evasion plan that Kushner suggested to MBL after he got caught killing Jamal Khashoggi. Just give it a few days and it will all blow over. And maybe toss out a couple of news cycle speed bumps in the interim to retard the national attention span.
Oh, and don't forget to sprinkle in some fake news accusations!
I think it's interesting that Joe Biden is laying low. He's gaffe prone, but at least knows enough to keep his mouth shut and give Trump all the rope and media attention he needs to hang himself.
I don't know anything about the Post Office rescue (or if there is one), other than Trump's insistence on raising the parcel rates 4x, in an obvious swipe at Jeff Bezos –
"Nice on-line retail business ya got there. Shame if something would happen to it"
I'm worried about COVID deaths. A lot of other people will suffer – the illness is no picnic if you survive. I'm worried about the economy (where 'economy'=good jobs at fair wages and the availability of housing, goods and services at fair prices. I'm not worried about the DJIA.)
While my worries are like yours, Trump is worried about getting reelected. McConnell is worried – this election could fracture the GOP completely and permanently, finishing off the dominance of conservatism as the Great Depression almost did. Whatever the lunatic in the Oval Office does, Mitch has to second until or unless Trump's favorability in the Republican polls goes down.
I think Trump expected the free TV time was doing his reelection good. His people were trying to tell Trump that even if ratings were good, his poll numbers were dropping. That was before Trump suggested shooting up Clorox. Trump still thinks he can win, but he's soured on being the Coronavirus king. What's the next trick in Trump's bag?
Denial that the virus is real. I'm seeing an organized propaganda push. The death count is vastly overblown to bring Trump down. Fake News. Propaganda. Fear tactics. Your immune system can handle the virus unless you are high risk. So Trump will go back to what works – big rallies in the Midwest. Magical thinking. Betting long odds. Trump will show up to re-open states with low infection numbers and pick fights with Blue State governors for not being as bold.
The next president may be selected by the virus. If Trump is lucky (not to be ignored) the summer weather may drive COVID into remission. If it's spreading throughout the country but dormant thru the summer, at what point in Sept-Oct will it wake in Red States who are in denial of the threat? Karma? If a second wave waits until mid-November, God help us all.
Well, it's quite an ambitious undertaking to try and beat back reality. If it can be done at all, Trump would be the guy to do it. He sneers at reality. But I guess that is understandable. When you have crafted a public image of yourself from pure fantasy the last thing you can allow is to have it juxtaposed with reality. So Trump has kind of boxed himself in and put a severe limit on the options available to him to shepherd us through this crisis. He just can't bull his way through and expect everything to work out according to his dictates.
It one thing to be able to beat down and intimidate your wife, your children, and your subordinates, but it's a whole other thing to intimidate a virus into submission. The bag of shit just doesn't have the tools in his tool box.
I'm not one to make fun of a pitiful being, but I have to ask – what was he wearing when he asked for this abuse?
I would love to have been a fly on the wall as the head of the day's Secret Service detail explained to the Trumptard minion that his job was to protect the President from physical threats, not threats to his little fee-fees by playing musical chairs with journalists.
Don't you just imagine he regards the Secret Service agents as more like his butler/servants. There's no telling what all they have been asked to do over the past few years.
Does anyone else remember the Secret Service failures during the Obama presidency? Intruders actually got into the White House. Isn't it odd that has not happened during the Trump* years? Can you imagine the hay he would make out of that? It would be a great rallying point. I can hear the rubes yelling now, "Secret Service Sucks!" He has millions swallowing his Fake News! theme. I won't be surprised to see conspiracy theories about fake Democrat doctors and crisis acting corpses at one of his next pressers.
Give us this day our daily briefing.
I'm feeling an emptiness and a sense of abandon since being spurned by Trump. I just can't understand why Trump would write me off as not being worth the effort to provide me with information critical to my survival. What did I do to bring about this most cruel rejection from Trump? Am I wrong to want to survive?
Seems Trump didn't cancel his show. He changed the venue, back drop, and props, but it's the same old show. Just season 2 (The Financial Healing). Oh what heights we'll hit..On with the show, this is it!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-t8PngHgWY