locking down the swing states https://t.co/arN8OvV2Hr
— kilgore trout, suburban female understander (@KT_So_It_Goes) July 5, 2020
This is not much more than an hour’s drive from Boston, and so will inevitably re-seed the pandemic in one of the few areas of the country that’s been managing to bend the curve downward. Massachusetts and Maine may have to erect physical barriers to (re)entry at our borders. Does this putz have a sponsorship deal with Covid-19?
Capturing a Trump speech in all its calculated ugliness is not easy on a tight deadline. So when it’s done well, as in this punchy, well-framed story by ??@anniekarni?, it’s worth pointing out. https://t.co/NgRZeKKWMa
— Mark Landler (@MarkLandler) July 4, 2020
The NYTimes — if not Chief Court Stenographer Haberman — has turned:
Standing in a packed amphitheater in front of Mount Rushmore for an Independence Day celebration, President Trump delivered a dark and divisive speech on Friday that cast his struggling effort to win a second term as a battle against a “new far-left fascism” seeking to wipe out the nation’s values and history.
With the coronavirus pandemic raging and his campaign faltering in the polls, his appearance amounted to a fiery reboot of his re-election effort, using the holiday and an official presidential address to mount a full-on culture war against a straw-man version of the left that he portrayed as inciting mayhem and moving the country toward totalitarianism…
The scene at Mount Rushmore was the latest sign of how Mr. Trump appears, by design or default, increasingly disconnected from the intense concern among Americans about the health crisis gripping the country. More than just a partisan rally, it underscored the extent to which Mr. Trump is appealing to a subset of Americans to carry him to a second term by changing the subject and appealing to fear and division…
Most politicians, including former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., the presumptive Democratic nominee, this year were forgoing any of the traditional holiday parades and flag-waving appearances. The vast majority of fireworks displays in big cities and small rural towns have been canceled as new cases reported in the United States have increased by 90 percent in the past two weeks.
Mr. Trump’s itinerary Friday and Saturday, however, had a different message: The sparkly, booming show must go on at all costs in the service of the divisive message and powerful images he wants to promote…
Throughout his presidency, Mr. Trump has tried to bend events to his will, often using social media to drive home his alternate version of reality and, thanks to the power of repetition and the loyal support of his base, sometimes succeeding. But the president’s attempt to drive deeper into the culture wars around a national holiday, during an intensifying health crisis that will not yield to his tactics, risked coming across as out of sync with the concerned mood of the country at a moment when his re-election campaign is struggling and unfocused.
“I don’t think it will work, because what he is trying to do is pretend that the situation is better than it is,” Mr. Beschloss said.
Mr. Beschloss compared Mr. Trump to Woodrow Wilson, who presided over the influenza pandemic in 1918 by trying to pretend it was not happening, and to Herbert Hoover, who in 1932 tried to project that the Great Depression was not as bad as people were saying…
You'd think Russia was offering Trump bounties for killing American citizens or something.
— Daily Trix (@DailyTrix) July 4, 2020
In case you were wondering, it took less than ten minutes for Trump to pivot from talking about the rights of Americans to bragging about jailing protestors.
— Daniel W. Drezner (@dandrezner) July 4, 2020
People this speech helped:
• Joe Biden
• Funeral DirectorsPeople this speech hurt:
• Donald Trump
• ER Doctors— Daily Trix (@DailyTrix) July 4, 2020
The most widely-read report on the President's speech last night at Mount Rushmore will probably come from the AP, as news organizations big and small around carry their stories on the web.
The headline: "Trump pushes racial division, flouts virus rules at Mount Rushmore" pic.twitter.com/7YGP9guBpZ
— Jamie Dupree (@jamiedupree) July 4, 2020
it is possible that trump turns his campaign around with a demagogic “we must preserve our white heritage” message but i think it is more likely that voters punish him even further for abandoning the country to plague and economic distress. https://t.co/cXKe8RFpCD
— b-boy bouiebaisse (@jbouie) July 4, 2020
GOP Massive Fail Open Thread: The Lying in WinterPost + Comments (130)