Thread by @frodofied

The next 18 months are going to be filled with stories like this.

Beware.

While the story itself is essentially true, it is the narrative bend that rings hollow, and it will be the underlying current of Trump's media coverage for 2020.

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nbcnews.com/politics/2020-…

In fact, that narrative is being shaped in real time, right now.

It is a fiction of "Trump the Underdog." And of "Trump the man whose own hubris is what kseps him from true greatness."

There will be profiles documenting Trump's loneliness and his fears of loss.

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There will be stories of exasperated staff members worrying about their boss.

But it will all be bullshit.

The things they will write and report on will have had always been true, but they will be told differently.

Trump, mob criminal, will be recast as a tragic hero.

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The narrative reshaping, will, at first, look critical. It might even feel or look negative.

It will all be subterfuge.

Because one thing is absolutely certain, "Trump the Demagogue" cannot win, at least not fairly.

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We have seen firsthand recently signs that the normalization process has been largely successful.

From the notably muted reaction to Mueller's deeply unsettling report to decisions by many Democrats not to pursue impeachment, the normalization train arrived on cue.

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But @realDonaldTrump is not a tragic hero. He is not a man of tragedy in any sense of the word. He is not redeemable. And he never will be.

But humanizing Trump is essential to any story, any pathway, that leads him back to the White House for the next four years.

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But @realDonaldTrump is an actual sociopath. He legit doesn't give a flying fuck about anything but himself and his precious few loyalist.

He will never be capable of empathy or sympathy, and he will never even understand the concepts. Unless he applies them to himself.

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Everything Trump does is calculated for effect. He has proven b himself a genius at controlling his own narrative and at understanding the dark and mercurial nature of the modern media monster that helped create him.

And Trump lives to write his own fictions.

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Never lose sight of the following facts:

1. @realDonaldTrump is the most dishonest person to ever hold American public office at any level.

2. Trump leads an actual criminal enterprise with provable connections to some of the most notorious and dangerous people on Earth.

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3. Finding a person in his inner circle who cannot also be described in such ways isn't next to impossible. It is actually impossible.

4. Trump will do or say anything to win. He would probably assassinate a family member if he believed he could gain enough sympathy.

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5. Trump does not want America to prosper. He wants his enterprise to prosper.

6. There is still every chance that Trump will act to circumnavigate the next election. He might very well make sure that if we do not vote for him, we will not vote at all. That's not hyperbole.

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7. Donald Trump has broken so many laws, WHILE IN OFFICE, he not only deserves to be impeached, he deserves to spend the rest of his life in prison.

And...

8. Donald Trump DID actually conspire with a foreign adversary to steal the 2016 US presidential election.

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9. Donald Trump did knowingly & aggressively obstruct justice as the investigations into that conspiracy was initiated and throughout its entire progression.

10. Donald Trump is Vladimir Putin's puppet.

11. Donald Trump is not the legitimate President of the United States.

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12. @HillaryClinton was right about everything.

13. @HillaryClinton is the legitimate President of the United States.

14. We must prevail

Fight.

Scream.

Articulate.

Coordinate.

Inspire.

Educate.

Congregate.

Vote.

#ForTheRepublic
#ForThePeople
#ForHonor

#SheWon