Look at me! I have the most popular show on TV! Isn’t this great? I’m a hit!
My wife showed me this last night, and I assumed it was a joke. It looked like a real Tweet, but I figured it was from The Onion or something like that, spoofing Trump’s obsession with his own popularity.
I thought it was carrying things a bit far, suggesting even as a joke that he would brag about his TV ratings when he’s giving national briefings about something that could kill 200,000 Americans.
But then I looked. And there it was, in his Twitter feed:
“President Trump is a ratings hit. Since reviving the daily White House briefing Mr. Trump and his coronavirus updates have attracted an average audience of 8.5 million on cable news, roughly the viewership of the season finale of ‘The Bachelor.’ Numbers are continuing to rise…
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 29, 2020
Even after I saw that, I figured something was missing that would explain it. I started looking around for news stories about it, and didn’t find any right away — although there was a lot of buzz about it on social.
This morning, I found some coverage, buried way down below other stuff. But basically, they treated it as routine.
This is how far we’ve fallen in normalizing his behavior. The president of the United States puts out something you would only expect from a profoundly maladjusted child, bragging about how everyone’s watching him while thousands of people are dying around him. In the world we knew before 2016, his aides would be trying to gently maneuver him into a padded room, and preparing to invoke the 25th Amendment…
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The tweet apparently spun off of a softball question asked during the Sunday coronavirus briefing regarding some media outlets debating not covering his briefings live, because of his tendency to make misleading statements. Fox and other right-wing outlets have jumped on that as what they are portraying as another example of the “lamestream” media’s bias against the president. Meanwhile, he offered up his “unbiased” assessment of the popularity of his briefings.
Yeah, he really poses a YUGE ethical dilemma for media — are media outlets killing people by airing briefings in which he spouts lies about the crisis?
As if MSNBC and CNN not airing his ego stroking misinformation sessions means Americans can’t get the news.
Is there somewhere in America where MSNBC and CNN are the only news sources?
Not airing that buffoon is a public service.
Mr Tough
“The things they had in there were crazy. They had things, levels of voting that if you’d ever agreed to it, you’d never have a Republican elected in this country again,” Trump said
No redeeming social qualities.
I think a lot of people are tuning in hoping to find the horror show has ended and rational people are now in charge. For that, they’ll have to watch Andrew Cuomo.
Andrew Cuomo, is he the guy who’s stockpiling ventilators and other needed supplies? What else would you expect from the guy who married the Food Channel’s Cool-Whip queen.
I don’t understand this criticism.
Medical experts are telling him he will need thousands of ventilators and he’s asking for thousands of ventilators.
Do we expect him to receive them and then immediately send them to the ICU to be used like an organ transplant? Of course he is stockpiling them. It would be totally irresponsible not to do so when his medical experts are telling him they have a shortage and they will be needing them.
He didn’t marry Sandra Lee. Even so, that would have been preferable than The soft porn model that another Who lives in the White House did marry.
“Even so, that would have been preferable than The soft porn model that another Who lives in the White House did marry.”
Absolutely and totally inappropriate remark about the First Lady. You have no class as the old saying goes by engaging in remarks like the one you posted. I have always strenuously objected when anyone makes an inappropriate remark about the First Lady no matter who is POTUS. When Michelle Obama was First Lady and idiots and other less desirable individuals made crass comments about her, I objected because it is uncalled for and offensive.
And I object just as strenuously to Dirty Ol’Man’s reference to Cuomo’s girlfriend. I would like to ask both of you, what the hell does either one have to do with the COVID-19 crisis? Or are you just as opprobrious as the ones you criticize?
Object all you like.
It has nothing to do with COVID19. But humans can discuss various topics.
It was a reminder to the post I replied to above.
Appearing nude in a men’s magazine is pornography.
“It was a response to the post I replied to above”
“It has nothing to do with COVID19.”
It absolutely had nothing to do with COVID-19. You made my point so why did you feel it was necessary to broach the subject even in a response to Dirty Ol’Man’s comment that was inappropriate?
Because I felt it necessary to reply to his post.
“Andrew Cuomo, is he the guy who’s stockpiling ventilators and other needed supplies?”…Replying to this I can understand but getting down in the mud by a one-upmanship with reference to the First Lady was nothing more than getting down in the mud with Dirty Ol’Man. Well, you achieved a new status, one on the level with Dirty Ol’Man. Enjoy.
Whatever, guys!
Let’s just move on, OK? I thought about just deleting the initial comment and all replies to it, but let’s just move on…
I’ve posted a new Open Thread. All the topics are depressing, but maybe y’all can bring up something happier — it is, after all, an OPEN thread…
Trump and his coronavirus updates have attracted an average audience of 8.5 million on cable news, roughly the viewership of the season finale of ‘The Bachelor.’ Numbers are continuing to rise…
Yep, pretty terrible thing to say. Second worst thing he said yesterday. Here’s number one:
“How do you go from [10,000] to 20,000 masks [prior to the pandemic] — to 300,000…” he said, “Something’s going on. And you ought to look into it as reporters. Where are the masks going? Are they going out the back door? … And we have that happening in numerous places.”
https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2020/03/trump-blames-hospitals-for-coronavirus-mask-shortages.html
Well, I don’t watch them but I do have a few friends that do watch like they’d watch a train wreck. They know he will say something goofy, incorrect, and will do several things that are totally uncalled for during such a crises.
Brad
I know you don’t watch but Fox Business fired one of their prime time hosts on Friday. Trish Regan, a vocal Trump supporter (At Fox you don’t host a show with being being one) had suggested the virus was only a made up thing to impeach trump.
The interesting thing is she didn’t say anything different that most of the other fox hosts said on the air. But she was the fall gal I guess.
Why aren’t we asking about POTUS’s statement on March 13 that Alphabet/Google/Verily is developing a website that will direct users to “drive-thru” sites, so that people can stay in their cars when they are screened for the virus. POTUS went on to say he expected the U.S. to have 1.4 million coronavirus test kits available within a week, and a total of 5 million kits within the next month. He then said he doubted the country will “need anywhere near” 5 million kits.
Let’s deal in cogent facts and document the lies.
The president is incompetent. In every sense. Watching these press conferences would be like asking to take a tour of an insane asylum (because I hope no one is watching as macabre sport).
Too bad they closed them all…