And that's when I knew I was wrong.
The "autopsy" the Republican Party performed on itself in 20013, in the wake of yet another defeat in a presidential election, prescribed support for "comprehensive immigration reform" and outreach to African-Americans, Hispanic-Americans, Asian-Americans, and gay voters.
That should have been obvious. However, the President thought it necessary to tweet on Wednesday morning
Republicans should fight very hard when it comes to state wide mail-in voting. Democrats are clamoring for it. Tremendous potential for voter fraud, and for whatever reason, doesn’t work out well for Republicans.
Still, aside from fact-checker Dale, Soledad O'Brien, and a few others, there was still little little of Trump's intent, and even less indication that people appreciated the implication. The President of the United States has made it very clear- he does not want people to vote and he's going to do whatever it takes to make sure they don't.
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On March 23 I wrote
Broadcast live, these task force briefings are more partisan
political affair than informative news event. They should be televised only on
delay, shown only after Daniel Dale and other fact-checkers have had an
opportunity to vet remarks by such political actors as the President, the
Vice-President, and the Surgeon General. As remarks are heard, a script at the
bottom of the screen would indicate results of the fact check.
Since then, it has become clear to me, as it had to a few
others by then, that these are campaign events, a mix of the President's
personal resentments, strategic invective, and lies. Responding to Tuesday's briefing:
Daniel Dale is amazing at this: but isn’t this kinda fact checking the barn once the horse has run out? The President said all these things—on live tv. Platforming lies is a mistake. But media does it daily. I don’t get it. https://t.co/k5m51brTVg— Soledad O'Brien (@soledadobrien) April 8, 2020
Donald Trump's periodic lies about "voter fraud"
are the most insidious because the truth is not simple and the specter of voter impersonation fraud are at the
core of GOP electoral strategy.
The "autopsy" the Republican Party performed on itself in 20013, in the wake of yet another defeat in a presidential election, prescribed support for "comprehensive immigration reform" and outreach to African-Americans, Hispanic-Americans, Asian-Americans, and gay voters.
Then Donald Trump came along and won the presidency with a
vigorous anti-immigrant message and emphasis on ethnic bias, and the earlier prescription was
shelved. Following the direction of
Senate Majority Leader McConnell, whose wife was selected for the President's
cabinet, the party would be all in for Donald Trump. The President would lead the party and brook
no dissent.
The effort to squash voting in heavily Democratic Milwaukee
is only the latest manifestation of the GOP's electoral strategy. Republicans
know that if a lot of people vote, it is blacks, Latinos, and young people, who
traditionally have a low turnout, who will turn out in higher numbers than
normal.
On March 30, the Present had called in to Trump TV's Fox and Friends and "dismissed a Democrat-led push for (voting) reforms" by stating "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."I waited 2.5 hours today in rain and hail (and a mask and gloves) to vote in Milwaukee because @wisgop and @scotus would rather risk lives than have a fair election. Instead of 182 polling sites, we had 5. #VoterSuppression #WisconsinPrimary pic.twitter.com/9F8xKwciOX— Trudy Harwood (@TrudyandPierre) April 8, 2020
Republicans should fight very hard when it comes to state wide mail-in voting. Democrats are clamoring for it. Tremendous potential for voter fraud, and for whatever reason, doesn’t work out well for Republicans.
Still, aside from fact-checker Dale, Soledad O'Brien, and a few others, there was still little little of Trump's intent, and even less indication that people appreciated the implication. The President of the United States has made it very clear- he does not want people to vote and he's going to do whatever it takes to make sure they don't.
Fact-checking as Donald Trump spews a string of fabrications is more difficult
than I understood, even recently. Moreover, it takes context for independent-minded voters
to understand the damage and danger in the distortion and lies characterizing virtually every appearance the President makes.
Refusing to show these dog-and-pony shows will enrage the President; good. They will undermine his obsession with being the center of attention at any and all times. They deprive him of at least one platform to disseminate propaganda.
It is irresponsible to give Donald Trump the forum to promote his campaign and various prejudices with reckless disregard for truth. Though there is no perfect remedy to the evil embodied in one man, media organizations must recognize- as they do- that the briefings are only campaign events, and dishonest ones. Deciding not to tilt the election toward the incumbent by broadcasting them is the least which should be expected of them.
Refusing to show these dog-and-pony shows will enrage the President; good. They will undermine his obsession with being the center of attention at any and all times. They deprive him of at least one platform to disseminate propaganda.
It is irresponsible to give Donald Trump the forum to promote his campaign and various prejudices with reckless disregard for truth. Though there is no perfect remedy to the evil embodied in one man, media organizations must recognize- as they do- that the briefings are only campaign events, and dishonest ones. Deciding not to tilt the election toward the incumbent by broadcasting them is the least which should be expected of them.
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