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…
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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…
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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…

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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…

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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…
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More from @GregTSargent

Nov 25
NEWS --> BBC confirms to me that they did edit a line out of historian @rcbregman's speech. It called Trump "the most openly corrupt president in US history."

BBC also confirms this was done on the advice of lawyers. So Trump's threats worked.

New piece:
newrepublic.com/article/203648…
Today @rcbregman posted a transcript of his Reith Lecture showing that the version that BBC aired removed the line about Trump's world-historical corruption.

BBC emailed me: "we made the decision to remove one sentence from the lecture on legal advice.”

newrepublic.com/article/203648…Image
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@rcbregman Trump is the most corrupt president in US history, and the openness of his corruption is an essential feature of it. It's extra bad that this comes as the Defense Department punishes Sen Mark Kelly for correctly warning against breaking illegal orders.

newrepublic.com/article/203648…Image
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Read 4 tweets
Nov 21
Remarkable: Rep Chrissy Houlahan, one of the Dems Trump called for executing, tells me her office literally filled out a Capitol Police threat report listing "the president" as the person making the threat.

It's at 9:20 on our pod. More like that here:
newrepublic.com/article/203487…
Here's a transcript of the key exchange:

ME: You filled out a form which essentially says, ‘who delivered this threat,’ and your office wrote in ‘Donald J. Trump.’

REP HOULAHAN: 'The President.'

newrepublic.com/article/203489…Image
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Also crucial from Rep Chrissy Houlahan:

One reason she and other Dems did the video about Trump's illegal orders is that they're hearing from inside the military and intel services of actual live fears that they're being given unlawful commands:

newrepublic.com/article/203489…Image
Read 4 tweets
Nov 15
Trump's boat bombings in the Caribbean just got worse. An internal DOJ memo says the victims are waging war on the US, but per NYT, it extensively cites the WH's *own claims* to this effect as evidence!

It gets even darker than that. 1/

(new piece)
newrepublic.com/article/203219…
The memo purportedly justifying these murders also contains a lengthy section that lays out arguments defending the actions of those carrying out the strikes. In short, it *preemptively* defends them from potential prosecution later.

This is unusual. 2/

newrepublic.com/article/203219…Image
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Ever since the bombings began, a big Q has been: Do those carrying them out fear they're being given illegal orders? The official overseeing them recently resigned with no explanation, prompting Dems to ask if he'd concluded bombings are illegal. 3/

newrepublic.com/article/203219…Image
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Read 7 tweets
Nov 12
This has gotten lost: Abigail Spanberger won big after vowing to RESCIND Glenn Youngkin's executive order directing local cooperation with ICE and voting AGAINST the anti-immigrant Laken Riley Act. Yet she gained bigly with working class.

My new piece:

newrepublic.com/article/203092…Image
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Remember when Ruben Gallego preened around over his support for the Laken Riley Act, and pundits treated him as having the magic key to Dems' working class woes?

Well, Spanberger voted against it and erased GOP gains with working class and among Latinos:

newrepublic.com/article/203092…Image
Some Dems and pundits overread Trump's win. They looked at dissatisfaction with the border and discerned a seismic cultural reaction to immigration levels inside the country. The former was real. The latter is a mirage.

(h/t @gelliottmorris)

newrepublic.com/article/203092…Image
Read 4 tweets
Nov 5
Remarkable: In Virginia and New Jersey, Spanberger and Sherrill erased the GOP edge among working class. Per exit polls, each got 50% of noncollege voters, big gains over previous contests.

Anti-Trump politics appeals to working class, too!

New piece:
newrepublic.com/article/202732…
An absurd media trope in runup to the election said Dems must choose between being "anti-Trump" and running on substance.

Lesson from this elex is that anti-Trump politics *is* affordability politics, and affordability politics *is* anti-Trump politics:

newrepublic.com/article/202732…Image
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The results decisively refute need for false choice between "anti-Trump" and affordability. In exit polls, Spanberger and Sherrill both got 50% of noncollege voters, and both got *huge* majorities of nonwhite noncollege voters. Reverses Trump gains bigly:

newrepublic.com/article/202732…Image
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Read 6 tweets
Oct 27
Trump screws his voters again: He just denied disaster aid to Maryland (while giving it to red states). But I took a look. Turns out the ailing Maryland counties are in Appalachia and backed him by 40 and 54 points.

On the pod, @stevebenen and I discuss:
newrepublic.com/article/202263…
When Trump denied disaster aid to Maryland, he apparently thought he was punishing a blue state. But afflicted areas are Garrett and Allegany counties. Western MD is Appalachia. Those counties are deep in Trump country.

Details on pod w/ @stevebenen:

newrepublic.com/article/202269…Image
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@stevebenen Those Maryland counties deserved this aid. The damage clearly qualified for federal assistance. Yet Trump denied Maryland (plus VT, IL) aid with no serious explanation (while giving it to MO, AK, NE, ND). We all know why.

@stevebenen is good on this:

newrepublic.com/article/202269…Image
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Read 4 tweets

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