Share this page!

Greg Sargent Profile picture
Twitter logo
5 Oct, 4 tweets, 4 min read
Trump's reckless armored car stunt, which put people at grave risk to demonstrate his supposed invincibility to supporters, captures the depraved dereliction of duty he's demonstrated from the start of Covid. Authoritarian politics at its worst. New piece:
washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/…
After Trump's stunt, @DrPhillipsMD, an acting physician at Walter Reed, tweeted out his anger at the appalling risk this inflicted on those in the car.

But Dr Phillips went further on NBC today, noting that this sent an awful message to the country, too:

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/… Image
@DrPhillipsMD The physical invincibility of the leader is a standard authoritarian trope. Trump and his propagandists will try to spin his triumph over Covid (if it happens) into a symbol of the infallibility of his handling of it as president.

With @jasonintrator:

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/… ImageImage
@DrPhillipsMD @jasonintrator If Trump recovers, his "triumphant" return will be employed to falsify his handling of this whole crisis. In fact, this armored car stunt actually demonstrates many of the pathologies we've seen all throughout:

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/… Image

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
　

Keep Current with Greg Sargent

Greg Sargent Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @ThePlumLineGS

Greg Sargent Profile picture
6 Oct
Trump's chief of staff is blocking FDA guidelines on a vaccine because they'd ensure its release comes after the election. But, by making Covid all about him and by pursuing his bottomless corruption out in the open, he's already blown it on this strategy:
washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/…
Trump had a big opening to use his brush with the virus to show a shred of basic humanity towards hundreds of thousands of dead and bereaved.

But, by turning it into a megalomaniacal pageantry of North Korea-level agitprop, he blew that chance:

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/… ImageImage
Here's the thing: One can envision a legitimate public debate about whether we need a vaccine faster than the scientists are willing to countenance.

But Trump has entirely blown any presumption of good faith, by corrupting everything in sight:

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/… ImageImage
Read 4 tweets
Greg Sargent Profile picture
2 Oct
My take:

* Sure, wish Trump well, but then get right back to work in removing him

* The news only adds to a much broader case against his towering failures

* Spare a thought for the deep injustices all this has exposed in our economy and health system:

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/…
The pandemic has exposed so many crushing injustices. This is the most unequal recession ever. Millions lack health insurance. A rolling catastrophe in terms of testing access.

In so many ways, Trump getting infected throws this into even starker relief:

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/…
You'd think Trump and all those around him would seize this moment to apologize to the country for their monstrous failures, now that those failures have deeply invaded the White House. How about showing some remorse right about now?

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/…
Read 4 tweets
Greg Sargent Profile picture
1 Oct
Trump attacked Rep Omar for telling "us how to run our country." Let's be clear on what he's really saying: That the opposition's voters are not entitled to legitimate representation. That's the grounds for canceling millions of ballots, too. New piece:
washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/…
Striking new @LarrySabato forecast: Ohio and Iowa are now "Toss-Ups." Michigan is "Leans Dem." Minnesota is "Likely Dem."

Why? Because Trump is losing Midwestern white support. And the NYT reports Republicans fear his race-baiting is backfiring:

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/…
@LarrySabato Elite journos decided Trump possessed a mystical grasp of the rural and small town Midwestern whites they'd neglected.

But now, all that's left is racism and voter suppression. And that region is slipping away from him. Is it time to rethink that mythos?

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/…
Read 4 tweets
Greg Sargent Profile picture
30 Sep
1) Now that Trump mobilized his far right army for a struggle over the results, we need to take the possibility that he'll try to steal the election more seriously.

Importantly, Trump again confirmed that he expects SCOTUS to invalidate ballots.

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/…
2) The idea that a GOP legislature might try to appoint pro-Trump Electors seems crazy.

But as @bartongellman reports, Rs are openly discussing this.

Crucially, they'd use fictitious fraud as the justification. Trump opened the way for this last night:

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/…
3) This scheme would likely be unconstitutional, because it would probably require a new state law, which a Dem governor could veto.

Here I rely on a terrific analysis from @dorfonlaw and @tribelaw:

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/…
Read 6 tweets
Greg Sargent Profile picture
29 Sep
1) The second installment of the NYT investigation into Trump's taxes is a tour de force, a narrative masterpiece.

It shows how Trump created a "fictional alter ego" as a business success, and milked it for years.

That's exactly what he did in 2016.

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/…
2) Trump's creation of a fictional self on "the Apprentice," followed by years of squandering his gains through incompetence and narcissism, parallel his election in 2016 on a fraudulent platform and his disastrous first term with eerie precision:

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/…
3) The NYT offers this killer summary:

"Trump’s genius, it turned out, wasn’t running a company. It was making himself famous — Trump-scale famous — and monetizing that fame."

But then he used this image to fleece desperate people w/scams like Trump U.

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/…
Read 5 tweets
Greg Sargent Profile picture
28 Sep
1) There's a lot of talk that the stunning NYT revelations about Trump's tax avoidance won't hurt with his base. They'll only see it as more evidence of his shrewd mastery of an already-rigged system.

But this take misses something much more fundamental.

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/…
2) These revelations strip the sheen off of Trump's hyping of himself as a successful businessman like so much imitation gold leaf.

But they also puncture a much larger scam that Trump employed to get elected.

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/…
3) Trump openly campaigned in 2016 on the idea that he understood how the rigged system really works -- because he enriched himself off it for so long.

He boasted of buying politicians and not paying taxes, which "makes me smart."

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/…
Read 6 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!

This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Too expensive? Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal Become our Patreon

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us on Twitter!

Like this author's thread?

Get email notifications when new thread is out from this Author!

Check out other threads from this Author!

Read all threads by @ThePlumLineGS