Morning Joe assembles the evidence
“Sir? How do you do it?” Trump fabulizes. His “sir” stories are legion, as Daniel Dale recounted in 2019:
Lots of people do call Trump “sir,” of course. But the word seems to pop into his head more frequently when he is inventing or exaggerating a conversation than when he is faithfully relaying one. A “sir” is a flashing red light that he is speaking from his imagination rather than his memory.
In poker parlance, it’s a tell.
The supercut assembled for “Morning Joe,” contrasts President Biden’s recent speech with another by Donald “91 felony indictments” Trump.
“Sir? How do you do it? How do you wake up in the morning and put on your pants?”
First off, he doesn’t start with pants.
“We’re a failing nation,” says Trump, who actually does know something about failing.
President Biden, meanwhile, visits Mother Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, S.C. today. In 2015, a white supremacist murdered nine Black churchmembers there during a Bible study:
According to his campaign, Biden will warn that MAGA Republicans, led by Donald Trump, are running on a dangerous agenda that is the polar opposite of American principles and will reiterate the stakes of the 2024 election when it comes to democracy and personal freedoms.
The address at the historic church, known as “Mother Emanuel,” comes just days after Biden kicked off the campaign year near Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, criticizing Trump for his actions during the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.
“He’s willing to sacrifice our democracy, put himself in power,” Biden said.
The speech in Charleston will continue to drive that argument, an adviser said, drawing a line between the past and the present with Biden’s choice of the historic venue and linking the church’s history to what he sees as a struggle for the soul of the nation.
It helps that Biden actually has one.