Mike Barnicle had a viral clip on Morning Joe today about the media refusing to report on Trump as he really is:
Greg Sargent went deeper on this subject today, referencing Barnicle and pointing out that we are simply not seeing the kind of coverage of Trump’s obvious unfitness that we saw about Joe Biden just a couple of months ago. It’s not that nobody ever says anything about this. But it’s almost in passing, as if it’s not the central story of the campaign. We have a man who is manifestly incapable of being president and we know it. And it’s much worse than it was in 2016 because nobody was sure at the time whether it was an act. It’s not an act.
The media failure this time is completely inexcusable.
Sargent writes:
I’ve taken 10 prominent headlines on stand-alone stories that ran about Biden’s age before he dropped out. I’ve rewritten them (links to the originals are included) around Trump’s mental unfitness. Reading these, you can see how journalists might spend much more time talking to associates of Trump who privately witness his unbalanced behavior, or questioning Trump himself directly about his mental lapses, or analyzing polls showing that majorities see Trump’s pathological lying as concerning in a president, or looking at specific rants as symptomatic of Trump’s much larger infirmities:
- Behind closed doors, Trump shows signs of slipping
- Why the dishonesty issue hurts Trump so much more than Harris
- A claim about transgender Americans puts Trump’s relentless lying back at the center of 2024
- Trump’s penchant for unintelligible rambling back in spotlight after verbal tirades
- Erratic rants at rallies aren’t just theatrics. They’re a profound and growing problem for Trump.
- Trump’s delusions seen as accelerating; lapses described as more common
- Republicans bungle Trump misogyny concerns, some critics say
- Trump campaign again forced into damage control to dispel concerns about his abusiveness and incoherence
- Trump dismisses questions about mental soundness in interview as he tries to salvage election effort
- Trump at 78: Forceful and aggressive, but sometimes confused and addled
Are these headlines really stretches, based on all we’ve seen? I submit that they are not. Note that all of these treat signs of the subject’s questionable mental fitness for the presidency—and the politics surrounding them—as themselves being the real news. How often do you see headlines like this? Why don’t we see more of them?
They are not stretches. Look at this:
Now look at how the NY Times wrote up this atrocity of an economic speech this morning.
Yes, Trump did recycle his old moldy economic tropes from 2016. But that’s not the point. He rambled like a lunatic, lied, stumbled and digressed and when they asked him questions it was clear he had no fucking idea what he was talking about.
This man is not a novice anymore. He is a former president who sounds like a junior high school kid who didn’t do the homework. He’s still completely clueless about policy and is so psychologically damaged (or intellectually lazy) that he hasn’t the capacity to learn anything.
There’s a story here that these people are determined not to tell. And I’m just stymied as to why. It’s the story of their lifetime.
Update: Oh dear God
Here’s the transcript of Trump’s daft comment on child care:
Here’s how the NY Times reported it:
Does that accurately reflect what he said?