Trump saying he wanted to "play down" COVID-19 isn't news. We *knew* he was. Likewise, *of course* he knew how deadly it was. Advisers told him.
You want news? How about 5 major-media reports confirming the Trump White House knew of the virus in November 2019? #ProofofCorruption
PS/ "News" is shocking—not something one previously had reason to suspect. I think this week we'll hear as "news" many things long self-evident. Trump admitting to what everyone in America already knew isn't news. The White House lying about 2019 COVID-19 intelligence *is* news.
PS2/ Media is going to do the silly and stupid things it does—but Americans needn't play along. *We* decide what's important: discovering when the White House learned about COVID-19—November 2019—or "learning" that yes, as we all *knew*, *Trump* knew he was downplaying the virus.
PS3/ When actual news comes out about Trump, I tweet it, whether it comes from ABC News, NBC News, The Times of Israel, and others—like my research on when the Trump White House learned of the virus—or Bob Woodward. But I can't pretend non-news is news just because it's "new."
PS4/ I *strongly* urge people not to adopt any new timeline for the White House's virus response that sets the beginning of Trump's recognition of the virus danger at late January. That is false—that is not what happened. But I'm afraid that's the new line that is being sold now.
PS5/ I'm glad we're hearing Trump's words. But I saw this happen with FEAR and the Trump-Russia issue—a book that seemed to be "hard" on Trump wrongly said there was no collusion. Now, a book that seems "hard" on Trump will *revise the pandemic timeline* in a way that aids Trump.
PS6/ In any event, I'll say no more—as anyone who reads Chapter 42 of Proof of Corruption and sees my sourcing will understand why this is upsetting. It's far easier than many think for a book that seems hard on Trump to in fact be doing him a much bigger solid than any critique.
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(THREAD) I keep telling you guys Elon is obsessed with me; folks keep doubting it. He reads everything I write and will continue to.
Here he *fails* to reply to the query I *and all U.S. media* have been asking: why isn’t he remotely turning off this Tesla ToS-violative vehicle?
1/ First things first: am I offended Elon called me retarded? Of course not! I’ve already told Elon—here on Twitter—that I’m a metamodernist, so I include any insult he throws at me in both my professional and Twitter bio. It’s gold and I thank him for it. sethabramson.net/bio
2/ Since Elon is—per usual—being deliberately obtuse, per usual because he doesn’t respect anyone’s intelligence but his own and therefore sees fit to insult the intelligence of all of us daily, I’ll try to reiterate for you all (not Elon) what he’s pretending not to understand.
I’ve no opinion on Palmer Luckey—I’m not part of Big Tech and don’t pretend to be—but as a retired journalism professor I’ll agree that major media is broken, especially fact-checking and correction protocols.
I’ll also say that every present alternative is *considerably* worse.
What con men like Elon Musk do is attack major media, then falsely imply there’s a better alternative—and of course the supposed better alternative is a product of theirs they profit from.
In truth, Twitter is mostly an information sewer. It’s far more broken than major media.
But Seth! You attack major media all the time!
Yes—I do.
That’s for two reasons: I’m engaged in a different type of journalism than major media (curatorial journalism), and I *do* act more responsibly regarding corrections than major media does. (Also, I admit my limitations.)
Sorry, can someone explain to me the *non-racist* reason a person would *deliberately mispronounce* the name of the Vice President of the United States?
I got nothing.
I get it—the Drumpfs were ashamed of their heritage, so they created a fake name to use in commerce, aiming to convince rubes they weren’t immigrants. Fine—we can *pretend* his name isn’t Donald Drumpf. But if Kamala has the self-respect to not do like the Drumpfs, why attack it?
My family was Avramovich when we came from Russia. Immigration officials put it down as Abramson, so we became that—similar things happened to other immigrants. The Drumpfs were *ashamed* of who they were, so they created a fake name.
1/ This is a work of curatorial journalism. It features dozens and dozens of links that take readers from a bird’s-eye view to a granulated one and back, offering a clear and coherent and fully sourced narrative that connects all the major-media sources present.
2/ There are individual *sentences* in this report that contain information I know most Americans don’t have. For instance, were you aware that some of Trump’s closest allies and advisers are now telling reporters that Trump is suffering from PTSD? Like literally has a condition?
(📣) Major media refuses to report on this video, which in one shot decimates every false claim Trump plans to make to overturn the 2024 election. He says he—not Democrats—pushed out Biden; says he knows Harris will take over; says that's to his *benefit*.
(PS) Major media *knows* that Donald Trump plans to—as Vanity Fair now reports—claim in November that the Democratic Party pushed out Biden because they planned a surprise attack on him all along, and that Harris being the nominee hurt him. But they *know* this July video exists.
(PS2) So someone *explain* why this plot by Trump isn’t being fact-checked by media. Trump admits the debate caused Biden to become a nonviable candidate, *takes credit* for that, and *celebrates* how much better for him it is that Harris is the nominee. Now he says the opposite.
I think the way Big Dem and especially major media handled the situation was wrong. Things were said about Biden and the race that were untrue. That bothered me as a journalist and small-d democrat. But *yes*—I got wrong what the response to Harris would be, and am glad for that.
I'm thrilled to be wrong when the result is good for the country. I'm fine with being wrong when I can stand by my basis for being so. In July, America saw the worst journalism about a U.S. president we've seen in my lifetime. I do not regret speaking up and being angry about it.
OTOH, I in no way foresaw the strength of the response to Harris. I gladly admit that. I only object to those who imply it is because I have a problem with Harris. I wanted her as the VP for Biden from the jump, and was stunned when her own presidential aspirations stalled early.