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This article gets weirder the more times I read it. nytimes.com/2019/05/04/us/…
I mean Pelosi just gave an interview in the New York Times to say she's afraid that Trump may not give up power voluntarily ... and she did it in the context of pitching her preferred messaging for Dem candidates in the 2020 campaign.
I honestly find this flabbergasting. On the one hand, Pelosi's position, as characterized by the NYT, is utterly bizarre.
(And the piece is built around an on-the-record interview, and she's not claiming she was misquoted, so it's not like they just made it up.)
On the other hand, if Pelosi is raising this alarm—even in such a frankly weird way—a year and a half before the election, that would seem to suggest that we're sailing into uncharted waters.
And, like, why isn't this story the only thing every journalist in the country is talking about today?
THE SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE JUST TOLD THE NEW YORK TIMES THAT SHE DOESN'T TRUST THE PRESIDENT TO STEP DOWN IF HE LOSES NEXT YEAR'S ELECTION.
That strikes me as kind of a big deal.
And again, what's surprising isn't the idea that Trump might not leave office. It's that Pelosi is saying it, that Pelosi is saying it without any sense of alarm, and that the fact that Pelosi's saying it isn't being treated as a big news story.
Hell, the Times hasn't even sent out a news alert on the story.
Here’s the thing about the “Pelosi Doubts Trump Will Step Down” story: The point of giving it oxygen isn’t just to give it oxygen.
There are followup stories to be written here. Followup steps to be taken.
What does Pelosi fear Trump will do to keep power if he loses? What steps has she taken, is she taking, to guard against that?
What does Nadler have to say about this? The 2020 candidates? McConnell?
Where’s the explainer story about how all this might go down? Where are the constitutional experts?
Within the traditions of the legacy media ecosystem, this is a story that spawns other stories. Outside that ecosystem, those stories spur other responses.
I mean, maybe Pelosi was misrepresented in the piece. But the New York Times says she expressed "concern that Mr. Trump would not give up power voluntarily if he lost re-election by a slim margin next year." That's pretty clear.
The New York Times says the Speaker of the House says that she's concerned that the President might steal the 2020 election outright. That's what this article says. nytimes.com/2019/05/04/us/…
This is the Speaker of the House warning of a constitutional crisis larger than any the United States has ever faced, and it's not even the top story on the New York Times website.
All right. I'm done with this for the night.
CNN has picked up the story, with a good headline. So that's something. cnn.com/2019/05/04/pol…
A couple of things, as I sift through the overnight comments on this thread and gird myself for the morning rush...
First, yes, Michael Cohen said this before, as did many other people. Michael Cohen predicting an attempt to steal a presidential election and Nancy Pelosi predicting an attempt to steal a presidential election are two fundamentally different kinds of news stories, though.
This isn't a new fear. As you can see below, it's a fear I've expressed myself. A top Democrat publicly expressing that fear is what's new, and how that fear is conveyed is newsworthy.
The Democrats need a plan for the possibility of Trump trying to steal the 2020 election. The Times article suggests that Pelosi's plan is "win by a lot and hope for the best." That's a bad plan.
Even worse than that plan, though, is TELEGRAPHING that that's your plan—it emboldens the GOP, depresses Dems, and normalizes the prospective theft of the election.
So maybe that's not actually Pelosi's plan. If it isn't, she should say so, and start to articulate what her plan really is. If it is, other Dems should say so, and outline alternatives.
I have assumed for a very long time that these conversations were happening among Democratic leaders behind closed doors. Why Pelosi chose this moment to bring them out in the open isn't clear to me.
But apparently we're having this conversation in public now. So let's have it.
Another thing on this story: The right-wing press is all over it. There are pieces up in the Daily Mail, Townhall, the Washington Free Beacon, Power Line, Newsmax, etc. Much less coverage on the left, or in the MSM.
He keeps telling us what he’s planning to do. He tells us over and over.
A follow-up article from the WaPo bringing together Pelosi's statement and Trump's Falwell RT. "Authoritarians are continually testing the boundaries." washingtonpost.com/politics/two-m…
The WaPo piece includes a quote from Senator Cardin warning about creeping authoritarianism: "When you look at people who have used authoritarian practices that have brought down democracies, they have used excuses to stay in power.”
