Harris campaign has a memo out tonight addressing the issue of Trumps flip flops we’ve been discussing today. On one level it’s comparing the hyper focus on Harris compared to the general oh that’s just Trump attitude most reporters are taking with a Trump.
2/ But the part that is interesting, other than saying what everyone else is, is this: Trump has a record on abortion, weed, ivf, etc. There’s what he did when he was actually president. Judges he appointed, policies he enacted etc etc. There are the positions he took as …
3/ of a month ago. The point is that a lot of reporters are acting like Trump is a new candidate, figuring out what his positions are going to be. But it’s not just that he already has positions on abortion, weed, ivf, etc etc. He’s already been president. He’s already done …
4/ things. You and I can have positions. He has ACTIONS. In fact to a great extent the whole range of policy questions are based on things HE DID. Just to state the obvious we’re only discussing abortion bans because he promised to appoint justices he would overturn Roe and …
5/ he did and now there’s no right to an abortion. IVF is under threat because he appointed judges who support the radical doctrine of “fetal personhood.” The whole thing is like a nationwide, grotesque and comic version of the hot dog suit guy meme. Who did this? Well, Trump …
6/ did. Which he’s actually happy to say in the off moments when he’s not “searching for a position” on abortion. Good lord. Obviously the Harris campaign is trying to shame reporters into applying something like a single standard to these things. And that makes …
7/ sense for a campaign to do. But just as political observers the whole spectacle of Trumps daily changing positions is quite stunning. It’s not simply that none of the standards applied to other candidates are applied to him. He’s treated like he can whip up positions …
8/ de novo when in fact the whole policy terrain on all these repro rights issues are defined by things he did. So if he’s actually reconsidering what he thinks about abortion (which obviously he’s not) maybe he should be asked why he overturned Roe in the first place.
9/ Or if he’s now decided that every American woman is entitled to her own government funded test tube baby why did he appoint so many judges who believe in the weirdo doctrine that would make IVF illegal? The real answer to this, I think, is that media coverage of Trump …
10/ is defined by two frameworks that are in some agree of tension. First political reporters try to retrofit policies out of the random mishmash of words he bunches together, sane-washing I think Aaron Rupar calls it. But at the same time no reporters apply these basic …
11/ standard questions to him — why did you change your position, if you’re saying you’re going to fix the problem, shouldn’t you answer for causing it in the first place — because it’s treated as obvious that nothing Trump says means anything so pointing out contractions …
12/ is like trying to fact check a battle rap. It’s pointless and misunderstands the genre. The genre in Trumps case being bullshit.
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
