After Attacking Michelle Wolf, Reporters Return to Politely Minding President Who Called Africa a Sh
After Attacking Michelle Wolf, Reporters Return to Politely Minding President Who Called Africa a Shithole
BY JAY WILLIS 18 hours ago
After 36 consecutive hours of performative handwringing over Michelle Wolf's monologue from White House reporters whose livelihoods depend on currying favor with the administration, Donald Trump held a joint press conference with Nigerian president Muhammadu Buhari on Monday afternoon. The visit was Trump's first with the president of an sub-Saharan African nation since he took office over a year ago, which also made it the first since he referred to the continent as a collection of "shithole" countries and complained that Nigerians immigrants would never "go back to their huts" after being allowed into the United States.
The reason Michelle Wolf's speech resonated with so many Americans—and why the backlash has elicited a backlash of its own—is because news in this country, no matter how damning it may be for those in power, almost always gets delivered through a civility filter that the media takes great pride in upholding. The Trump administration, which traffics regularly in bigotry, misinformation, and disrespect, takes full advantage of this dynamic, knowing that even its worst deeds will be graded on a curve.
A day after this country's most venerable access merchants literally sprinted to the defense of Sarah Huckabee Sanders' hypothetical hurt feelings, Sanders' boss stood in the Rose Garden and doubled down on his racism, knowing from experience that he would face no meaningful consequences for doing so. If those in attendance were as outraged by this riff as they were by Michelle Wolf's jokes this weekend, they didn't show it. This was a return to business as usual. They scribbled a few notes and waited for Donald Trump to call on someone else.
https://www.gq.com/story/after-michelle-wolf-business-as-usual
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