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Greg Sargent Profile picture
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1 Jan, 4 tweets, 3 min read
Good thread. @paulkrugman suggests a key motivator of the failure to act on coronavirus was active malevolence, not mere "executive underreach."

I agree. And I'd like to add an additional point about this. 1/
@paulkrugman In this case, the inaction was in part rooted in a specific iteration of malevolence, the belief (which turned out to be wrong) that only parts of the country that opposed Trump would seriously suffer and die. Trump mused openly about protecting Florida from NY, NJ and CT. 2/
@paulkrugman The idea that virtuous Real America needed to be protected from depraved, diseased Blue America, has long been a hallmark of Trumpism. He attacked urban districts as rodent infested. He mused to Florida's governor that he'd wall off the virus. 3/

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/…
@paulkrugman This is crucial to understanding the role that *toxic illiberalism* played in the failed coronavirus response.

The false-choice frame offered by some commentators -- Trump is either Mussolini or incompetent -- utterly fails to account for this. 4/4

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/…

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More from @ThePlumLineGS

Greg Sargent Profile picture
30 Dec 20
No one should ever listen to this fraud again when he claims to speak for the "great American middle." He won't acknowledge the preference of a majority of American voters! Those who play footsie with his "conservative populism" should admit to its genuine authoritarian side.
That Hawley is joining Trump's effort to overturn millions of votes is a bad sign. It suggests the 2024 hopefuls who see themselves as Trumpism's heirs will continue to stress the mythology that the election was stolen from him. I gamed that out here:

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/…
Cheerleaders for people like Hawley insist the 2020 results show that "conservative populism" has potential for genuine majoritarian appeal. They must be deeply disappointed that one of its leading champions wants to overturn millions of votes, right?

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/…
Read 5 tweets
Greg Sargent Profile picture
23 Dec 20
Trump's call for $2000 checks, which top Dems quickly endorsed, provides a powerful weapon against Perdue/Loeffler. It wrecks McConnell's spin about the deal, and shows that the real obstacle to generous assistance is congressional Republicans. My latest:
washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/…
Trump just demolished the entire story McConnell is telling to save his majority.

Remember, when the WH and Dems were negotiating over a deal that included big stimulus checks (which Trump wanted!) McConnell killed it.

Trump just revived this schism:

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/…
It will be fun when Perdue/Loeffler are asked about Trump's call for $2000.

Do they side with Trump or McConnell?

And will their stance be that they support Trump's effort to overturn the election but not his call for stimulus?

(with @chrislhayes)

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/…
Read 5 tweets
Greg Sargent Profile picture
21 Dec 20
You can already see how Republicans will expunge the stain of Trump. They will reduce his epic failings to ones of tone and personal conduct, while insulating conservative ideology from its role in the biggest governing failure of modern times. My latest:
washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/…
The big NYT piece on Republicans allegedly wanting to move on from Trump actually gives away their game.

Cornyn claims we won't have to talk about his "Tweets" anymore. Lindsey Graham piously says the GOP's problem is one of "tone."

Don't be fooled:

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/…
Stop saying Trump and his supporters "actually believe" the election was stolen from him. They support overturning *legitimate* election results. They're angry because democracy *worked,* not because it failed.

(w/@AdamSerwer, @RosieGray & @RadioFreeTom)

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/…
Read 5 tweets
Greg Sargent Profile picture
15 Dec 20
Trump has treated coronavirus as a weapon of division, a way to maximize civil conflict. This presents Biden with an opportunity: To use the crisis to rehabilitate a sense of common purpose.

I talked to the Biden team. They see deeper possibilities here:

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/…
Biden faces a truly epic public communications challenge.

I talked to David Kessler, co-chair of his Covid Task Force, and I'm convinced they see a big responsibility here -- to rehabilitate a sense of national common purpose and mutual obligation:

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/…
“They’ll put scientists up on the podium, not politicians. And they’ll relentlessly push calm, fact-based messages. Attitudes won’t change overnight. But the public may come to understand covid through a less partisan lens."

@nicholas_bagley, to me:

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/…
Read 4 tweets
Greg Sargent Profile picture
11 Dec 20
Every American should read Pennsylvania's scorching brief in the Texas lawsuit. It shows that those backing this lawsuit are demanding nothing less than the lawless imposition of the minority's will on the majority -- tyranny. I unpacked the brief here:
washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/…
The Texas lawsuit's actual argument is that Texas *voters* were harmed by pro-Biden outcomes in four other states.

Thus, the redress demanded is the imposition of Texas voters' will on the will of voters in those states.

This is the *explicit* demand:

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/…
In the four states that Texas' lawsuit has targeted, 10 million people voted for Biden.

"It's an invitation to the Justices to simply substitute the preferences of a minority of voters for those of the clear majority," @steve_vladeck tells me:

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/…
Read 4 tweets
Greg Sargent Profile picture
1 Dec 20
It's getting ugly in Georgia. Republicans are now openly begging Trump to stop lying about the voting being fraudulent. What's disgusting is that they happily told these same lies, and only now want him to stop due to fear of flat GOP turnout. New piece:
washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/…
Amazing: An adviser to @KLoeffler is now calling on Trump to stop undermining the integrity of Georgia elections. But Loeffler herself is doing exactly that!

Telling the truth to GOP voters -- that Trump legitimately lost -- is simply not permitted:

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/…
@KLoeffler Here's where it gets even crazier.

Both Loeffler and Perdue want to run as a check on a Biden presidency.

But they can't so much as *hint* that Biden won the election, because it angers Trump voters.

Again, telling them the truth is not an option:

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/…
Read 4 tweets

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