Greg Sargent Profile picture
Jul 12, 2024 6 tweets 4 min read Read on X
Remarkable finding in new Marist poll: By 68-32, voters say they're more concerned about a president who doesn't tell the truth than one who is too old to serve.

Maybe we should cover Trump's lying as a sign of his unfitness for the presidency. 1/

(link)
newrepublic.com/article/183784…
The new Marist poll also finds that 56 percent say Trump lacks the character to be president.

Dishonesty is surely part of that. WaPo found that Trump told 30,000 lies/distortions as president. @ddale8 described his lies at the debate as "staggering." 2/

newrepublic.com/article/183784…
Image
I'd like to suggest a crucial distinction, one between "mental" unfitness for the presidency and "temperamental" unfitness for it.

Some polls use the former language, and there Biden loses.

But when it's polled as the latter, Biden leads Trump. 3/

newrepublic.com/article/183784…
Image
What would it look like if media covered Trump's lying as a big strike against his temperamental fitness for the presidency?

I suggested some ideas here. See these screen caps. 4/

newrepublic.com/article/183784…

Image
Image
One thing we should *not* do is cover Trump's lying as savvy or effective politics. This recent NYT example is a really grating one. 5/

newrepublic.com/article/183784…

Image
Image
We keep hearing voter concern about age/mental unfitness is the reason the media relentlessly focuses on it. That's fine, but voters are also concerned about *temperamental* unfitness and sheer dishonesty.

Maybe it's time to cover this the same way. 6/6

newrepublic.com/article/183784…
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 @GregTSargent

Jun 18
We keep hearing credulous pundits say MAGA is "antiwar." So how many MAGA Republicans will support the new resolution requiring Trump to get congressional authorization for war with Iran?

This resolution is important. Pay attention to it. 1/

(new piece)
newrepublic.com/article/196919…
In 2024, Trump slammed Kamala for campaigning with Liz Cheney, claiming she wants “war with every Muslim country known to mankind.” This was always a scam, and now it looks like Trump is rushing into war with Iran. This has deeply split MAGA. 2/

newrepublic.com/article/196919…Image
Image
Image
"Antiwar" MAGA Republicans have the option of backing this new resolution from Thomas Massie (R) and Ro Khanna (D) requiring congressional authorization for war with Iran.

“It’s a test of whether the MAGA movement is really antiwar,” Khanna tells me. 3/

newrepublic.com/article/196919…Image
Read 6 tweets
Jun 13
Remarkable: Vulnerable House Republicans are quietly urging Trump to refocus deportations away from noncriminal migrants and only target criminals.

With Trump admitted deportations hurt farmers, Rs know this is becoming a big problem for them. 1/

(link)
newrepublic.com/article/196817…
Six House Rs, many from vulnerable districts, sent a letter to ICE explicitly saying deporting non-criminals makes us less safe.

Strikingly, it undercuts Trump's rationale for mass deportations and reveals deep political vulnerability on the issue. 2/

newrepublic.com/article/196817…Image
Image
Image
House Rs are urging a focus only on criminals AT THE EXACT MOMENT that Stephen Miller is ordering ICE to scour Home Depot parking lots for noncriminals to pad the numbers. Miller is *choosing* to divert resources away from dangerous criminals. 3/

newrepublic.com/article/196817…Image
Read 6 tweets
Jun 11
Awful: News orgs are credulously amplifying the idea that sending troops into LA is good politics for Trump. This gives his lawless abuses of power the aura of conventional politics, obscuring how extraordinarily dangerous this moment truly is. 1/

(link)
newrepublic.com/article/196674…
Over the last few days, Trump has goaded servicemembers into booing a sitting Dem governor, called for his arrest, needlessly sent troops into an American city, and spewed wildly absurd lies about that city. This shows political weakness, not strength. 2/

newrepublic.com/article/196674…Image
We just learned that two-bit fascist Stephen Miller told ICE officials to raid Home Depot parking lots for more people to deport. To boost removal numbers, Trump and Miller are diverting resources away from serious crimes like child exploitation. 3/

newrepublic.com/article/196674…Image
Image
Read 9 tweets
Jun 5
Stephen Miller is in a rage over deportation numbers he deems too low. So he's shifting huge amounts of law enforcement resources away from fighting serious crimes and into his immigration crackdown.

If voters knew about this, they'd recoil. 1/

(link)
newrepublic.com/article/196154…
Miller recently erupted at ICE officials, demanding 3,000 deportations a day. He's now redeploying thousands of agents from other agencies like Homeland Security Investigations, FBI, and DEA.

This is already hampering other crime-fighting, per NBC. 2/

newrepublic.com/article/196154…Image
Image
“Shifting that number of law enforcement agents from those types of agencies inevitably will mean fewer resources fighting transnational criminal organizations, drug smuggling, counter-terrorism, and child exploitation,” a former ICE official tells me. 3/

newrepublic.com/article/196154…Image
Read 8 tweets
May 23
Unreal: To sustain his "genocide" of "white farmers" lie while meeting with the South African president, Trump used a photo of war deaths in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

I looked into this a bit more. It's worse than it first appeared. 1/

(link)
newrepublic.com/article/195699…
First, note that the printout Trump used to humiliate Ramaphosa came from a conservative blog post, which used an image from a Reuters video about DRC. Perhaps an aide Googled "white farmers" and "South Africa," found this, and gave it to Trump. 2/

newrepublic.com/article/195699…Image
Image
But there's something darker here. Even as Trump used this image of the dead from the DRC war to push a fake "genocide," Trump has suspended foreign aid and refugee resettlement in ways that are hurting countless humanitarian victims of that REAL war! 3/

newrepublic.com/article/195699…Image
Image
Image
Read 6 tweets
May 10
Amazing: Trump grew angry over a Biden-era program with the word "equity" in its name, so he ended it. But a key part of the program was sending money to red states to expand internet access in rural/MAGA country. Now they might not get it.

New from me:
newrepublic.com/article/195097…
Trump saw the word "equity" in the name of this Biden-era program, so naturally he decided it must be serving undeserving minorities, giving him an opening to demagogue about it.

"No more handouts based on race!" Trump raged.

Except for one thing...

newrepublic.com/article/195097…Image
Image
Image
A funny thing about this saga: Many red state governments had submitted proposals in hopes of accessing this federal money. I looked at the proposals. They are in no small part about using this money to expand high speed internet into rural areas.

newrepublic.com/article/195097…Image
Image
Read 4 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

Don't want to be a Premium member but still want to support us?

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

Donate via Paypal

Or Donate anonymously using crypto!

Ethereum

0xfe58350B80634f60Fa6Dc149a72b4DFbc17D341E copy

Bitcoin

3ATGMxNzCUFzxpMCHL5sWSt4DVtS8UqXpi copy

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us!

:(