BREAKING: Trump Says That Due to the Democratic Governors of Washington (3,369 Coronavirus Cases) and Michigan (3,657 Cases)—the Latter of Whom He Calls "the Woman in Michigan"—Not Being "Appreciative" Enough of Him, He Has Told the Coronavirus Task Force Head "Not to Call Them" 
PS/ I know we don't get shocked about anything anymore, but there are over 250 US dead in Washington and Michigan—a number that's rapidly climbing—and here's the President of the United States openly saying he wants to shut down communications with them because they insulted him.
PS2/ Washington and Michigan are two of the *five biggest coronavirus hotspots* in the US—see chart below, from Worldometers—and Trump is *admitting* that the federal response is *dependent in part* on how much "appreciation" the governor of a state shows to him. READ THAT TWICE.
PS3/ Trump made clear the governors of New York (Cuomo), New Jersey (Murphy), and California (Newsom) are sufficiently appreciative that he's willing to call them or have the Coronavirus Task Force head call them. But with Michigan and Washington, he doesn't want calls to happen.
PS4/ Whether we realize it or not, we've become *so immune* to *real* judgment of Donald Trump—not just exasperation, but a sort of we-have-to-do-something-here judgment—that we hear a statement that could get other presidents impeached and even we as Trump critics sort of shrug.
PS5/ Trump's presser today made his quid pro quo clear, and was *intended* to do so:
1⃣ If you're a governor and your state receives federal aid during the coronavirus pandemic, you WILL NOT criticize Trump publicly.
2⃣ If you criticize Trump publicly, your state MAY lose aid.
1⃣ If you're a governor and your state receives federal aid during the coronavirus pandemic, you WILL NOT criticize Trump publicly.
2⃣ If you criticize Trump publicly, your state MAY lose aid.
PS6/ Keep in mind, this is a matter of Trump's pride but *more importantly* a matter of *Trump's re-election*. What Trump is saying is that if you're a governor and you say things publicly that could hurt Trump's re-election... well... maybe a few more of your citizens will die?
PS7/ Trump's manner of running a pandemic response is *100% transactional*. He believes that governors—much like him—are motivated solely by staying in power, so he assumes threatening their aid means threatening their reelection and thus will be effective at keeping them quiet.
PS8/ Today Trump *praised* media for being largely "fair" to him. And many people were like... why did he do that? But folks, he's 100% transparent: he's having the highest approval ratings of his term. He assumes—rightly—much of that results from coverage. So he praises media.
PS9/ By comparison, when Inslee (Washington) or Whitmer (Michigan) criticize Trump, *it gets media coverage*, which risks *hurting his approval rating* and therefore *harming his reelection chances*. So he uses what's *at his disposal*—federal aid and attention—to punish critics.
PS10/ If you're in media, you should be *clearly* telling Americans that federal aid has become a game of appeasing the president. Those who criticize the federal coronavirus response get differential treatment and risk seeing more of their citizens die. It's f*cking *sickening*.
CONCLUSION/ Today it's Washington and Michigan, folks. Tomorrow it may be *your* state's governor who *accurately* criticizes the federal coronavirus response—and if that happens, *you and your family will suffer* because the President of the United States acts like a *mob boss*.
VIDEO/ And now here it is: the stunning video (or part of it). This shocking statement from the President of the United States follows a conversation—or a monologue, by Trump—about the governors of Washington and Michigan not being "appreciative" enough.
NOTE/ It's important for folks to understand that in crisis management in a system of government like ours, among the few who have a *direct line* to the President/Vice President are governors—particularly governors of the five hardest-hit states. He wants to cut off that access.
NOTE2/ Cutting off a state executive's access to the President/Vice President during a fast-moving emergency *100% absolutely without any question whatsoever* impacts the amount of aid that state gets and the speed with which it gets it.
And Trump *knows that*. That's the point.
And Trump *knows that*. That's the point.
