The media we love to hate is finally starting to go after Trump.The New York Times still has its editorial calling Trump unfit very prominently on its front page, at least when I look at it; also, a large number of other media are reporting that editorial. In addition, there is this new story on its front page: Martyr Inc.: How Trump Monetized a Persecution Narrative
The candidate is blurring the lines between politics and business and turning his tribulations into cash — selling Bibles, clothing he wore in a mug shot and the promise of political salvation.
and the reporter observed:
Presidential candidates typically go out of their way to avoid even the appearance that they might benefit financially from their candidacy. Not so for Mr. Trump.
Americus Reed, a professor of marketing at Mr. Trump’s alma mater, the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, said the former president’s blurring of commerce and political affiliation subverted the human instinct to resist being tricked into spending money.
“It doesn’t feel like you’re being sold something,” Dr. Reed said. “It just feels like your identity is being affirmed.”
(There is a long article in the NYT by David Brooks — The Deep Source of Trump’s Appeal — which discusses Trump’s seizing on “identity politics.” I rarely read Brooks, but did so this time at my wife’s urging. It actually makes sense, but deserves a diary of its own.)
From WaPo, by Dana Milbank: Are we really going to give Trump a pass? C’mon, man.
Thus did Trump celebrate his willingness to squander the deterrence that has kept the peace for decades, and instead to abandon allies to the tender mercies of Vladimir Putin, who just bombed a children’s hospital in Ukraine. Trump says he’ll make Ukraine “settle” with the invading Russians, a surrender that Biden would never allow.
This is exactly what the presidential campaign should be about at this perilous moment: the choice between strong American leadership and appeasement, between democracy and dictatorship.
But this is no longer what the campaign is about. The heavy-handed attempt to force Biden to quit the race after his disastrous debate has, predictably, backfired.
And he goes on:
Were the nation’s focus not on what is going on between Biden’s ears, voters would be hearing more about the truly batty things coming out of Trump’s mouth, and those of his top allies. . . . Things were off from the start of the rally, when a halting rendition of the Pledge of Allegiance ended in “with justice and liberty for all.” . . . The former president’s remarks could be charitably described as bizarre. . . . He was as erratic as usual, at one point stopping in his speech for a full 10 seconds without explanation.
An LA Times columnist wrote this morning about last night’s press conference: Yes, we have anxiety every time Biden opens his mouth. But let's not give Trump a pass. And she pointed out something a lot of the media (AFAIK) didn’t report — Biden immediately corrected his Zelensky/Putin mixup:
[Biden] quickly returned to the microphone and said, “He’s going to beat President Putin ... President Zelensky. I’m so focused on beating Putin."
Yesterday, the LATimes had a major editorial calling Trump unfit — editorial: One candidate is patently unfit for the White House. It's not Biden — which is no longer behind a paywall, so:
It's unbelievable that the nation is spending so much time on the question of Biden's verbal acuity, when the greatest concern ought to be that his challenger is a self-aggrandizing felon and twice-impeached election-denier. Trump fomented the Jan. 6 insurrection, shows contempt for the rule of law and shamelessly lies in pursuit of more power. He's an authoritarian who admires murderous despots, wants to jail his political enemies and has publicly flirted with declaring himself a dictator on his first day back in office.
With fervent support from the Republican Party, he peddles cruelty, racism and misogyny, demonizing immigrants as "poisoning the blood of our country," demeaning women's looks and intelligence, and using disgustingly fascist language to criticize his opponents as "vermin." He's a man who lied about his wealth for years to cheat on his taxes, whose business was convicted of criminal tax fraud, and who's been denounced by many former aides and Cabinet members as a "malignant narcissist" who recklessly puts himself before the American people.
AZCentral took the media to task in its reporting of Biden’s presser: Biden's NATO news conference was actually fine, 'Vice President Trump' aside.
Yahoo (2 weeks ago, actually) : Donald Trump’s amnesia of his record shows he is unfit to be president again | Opinion — which was repeated the next day in the Las Vegas Sun.
Finally, here are some stories from the heartland about the dangers of Project 2025:
Ok, it’s just a start. But it is a start. It will grow into a juggernaut that will roll over Trump and the GOP if we encourage them to keep it up.
The point is, in this election, the candidate that everyone focuses on will lose. Trump knows this — which is why he has been dodging Project 2025, damping down anti-abortion talk, and counting on American amnesia over his one term. Every time the media stops counting BIden’s stutters and slips (a lifelong affliction) and starts exposing Trump is a gain for us, and we need to push them to do it more and more and more.
PS: Just after I finished this, I saw WaPo had just posted this story: ‘Project 2025’ gets traction — thanks in part to Trump
Last week, despite having praised Heritage previously and despite those involved in Project 2025 repeatedly outlining their ties to Trump, the former president attempted to build a wall between himself and the output of the project. One effect of that denial was to draw new attention to Project 2025. [emphasis added]
and it concludes:
[Project 2025] takes the overarching warning about Trump and makes it concrete. And now far more Americans know about it, thanks in part to Trump’s efforts to push it away.
In 2018, 2020, and 2022, Trump’s clumsy and heavy-handed domination of the Republicans cost the party many winnable elections (including his own). Let us observe that great political maxim: When your opponent is drowning, throw him an anvil.