They never learn, do they? As a verified Trump hater going back almost a decade, I have watched in awe as the left first elected Donald Trump with hysterical charges that amounted to an American presidential candidate committing treason and almost re-elected him using the most hysterically exaggerated warnings of “authoritarianism” and “dictatorship.”
I hate Trump for his attacks on civility and decorum — the attributes in our republic that have acted as a glue to hold this racially and ethnically diverse country together and kept it from exploding. Destroying them creates chaos — an atmosphere in which Trump thrives.
But Trump isn’t clever enough to be a dictator, nor do any of his “authoritarian tendencies” amount to much more than empty threats and bombast. But for the left, the bigger the threat they can make of Trump, the more heroic their own efforts to stop him will appear in their own minds.
Trump’s appearance on CNN for a “town hall” is a perfect example of the left’s self-fulfilling prophecies about him.
“Appalling,” wrote Rolling Stone. “‘F-cking Disgrace’: CNN Gifts Trump Prime-Time Campaign Rally.”
“Shame on CNN for That Naked, Cynical Play for Fox Viewers,” wrote Michael Tomasky of the New Republic.
“Pure Trump re-injected into the main vein of American politics at CNN town hall,” wrote Jonathan Allen at NBC, as if Trump were a poisonous drug and the left has the antidote.
Related: AOC & the Left Lose Their Minds Over Trump’s CNN Town Hall
What is the big surprise? The “stolen election” claims have been Trunp’s schtick for three years! CNN knew exactly what Trump was going to say, as did anyone who even just casually follows politics. The surprise is that the left thinks we’re so stupid we’ve forgotten about their anti-Trump hysteria and need to be reminded that electing him again would be the end of the United States.
We could say the same thing about Biden, but that would be bad form.
Charlie Sykes came close to the truth about the town hall.
“But this was not journalism we saw on CNN last night: this was entertainment programming, the kind of reality television show that did so much to foist Trump onto the body politic. He owned last night’s format.”
Indeed, the left made the huge mistake of seeing this town hall as some kind of traditional journalistic event. In fact, it was — as most “news” programs have become — reality television. Trump was wholly in his element while the left floundered about trying to explain why the supposedly “neutral” audience wasn’t trying to shout Trump down.
They would have.
Donald Trump is not an existential threat to the United States. The U.S. has endured all kinds of men as president — crooks, misogynists, and power-hungry narcissists — and each, in turn, left their mark on history. Even the left’s godhead Franklin Roosevelt interned 127,000 people in concentration camps, spied on Americans at home, and tried to pack the Supreme Court to bend it to his will.
No newspapers or TV stations were shut down when Trump was president. No reporters were thrown in jail. No leftists were censored as the left has tried to censor the right. Where does this idea that Trump exhibits “authoritarian impulses” come from?
Wajahit Ali writing in the Daily Beast believes that all voices should be heard unless he disagrees with them:
David Zaslav, the CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery, defended the town hall on CNBC last week and said that “all voices should be heard on CNN.” This apparently includes the voices of white nationalists, antisemites, conspiracy theorists, and misogynists. He added, “This is a new CNN.”
The closer we get to the election, the longer Trump’s horns will get and the longer his tail will grow. It’s the only way they can win — scaring the American voter to death with tales of a Trump dictatorship.
