August 29, 2019

The Trump team is now lying about lying

On Wednesday night, Trump reelection campaign press secretary Kayleigh McEnany did an interview with CNN's Chris Cuomo. It was, uh, contentious. But one part of the back-and-forth between the two really -- and I mean really -- stood out. Here it is:

CUOMO: You don't think this President has lied to the American people?
MCENANY: Let me finish, Chris.
CUOMO: You--
MCENANY: No, I don't think the President has lied.
CUOMO: --have to answer that question, first.
MCENANY: I don't think the President has lied.
CUOMO: He has never lied to the American people?
MCENANY: No, I don't think the President has lied.

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That exchange comes hard on the heels of a Washington Post interview with White House communications director Stephanie Grisham in which she said this of President Donald Trump's lies:
"I don't think they're lies. ... I think the President communicates in a way that some people, especially the media, aren't necessarily comfortable with. A lot of times they take him so literally. I know people will roll their eyes if I say he was just kidding or was speaking in hypotheticals, but sometimes he is. What I've learned about him is that he loves this country and he's not going to lie to this country."

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Make no mistake about what is happening here. This is lying about lying. Plain and simple.

https://www.cnn.com/2019/08/29/politics/donald-trump-kayleigh-mcenany-stephanie-grisham/index.html

August 29, 2019

tweet of the wednesday evening

https://twitter.com/fearless1348/status/1166879207298912257

@gargouille Retweeted

Michael Blue🍑🐶☮️🐕🆘
@fearless1348
Every time trump tweets I see his sickness. It's not right that 100's of millions of people should have to suffer just because he is mentally unstable. And he's not getting better, he's getting worse every day. It's a helpless feeling

August 29, 2019

Trump just tweeted - 'When the "Age of Trump" is looked back on many years from now...'

Suds McStache replied

Donald J. Trump
@realDonaldTrump
·
1h
There has never been a time in the history of our Country that the Media was so Fraudulent, Fake, or Corrupt! When the “Age of Trump” is looked back on many years from now, I only hope that a big part of my legacy will be the exposing of massive dishonesty in the Fake News!

August 29, 2019

Barr's sucking up to Trump is a new low

https://www.cnn.com/2019/08/28/opinions/barr-sucking-up-to-trump-begala/index.html

(CNN)So, William Barr, who works for Donald Trump, could be shelling out $30,000 for a party at -- wait for it -- the Trump International Hotel in Washington, according to the Washington Post. Thirty thousand dollars, wow. That's a heck of a party. Thirty thousand dollars will buy you a lot of pigs in a blanket. But perhaps the intent here is not to procure weenies wrapped in dough, but rather to curry favor.

Thus does Mr. Barr provide another example of the old maxim: "A person never stands so tall as when he stoops to kiss an a$$."

CNN reports that "Barr consulted career ethics officials at the Department of Justice, who determined that ethics rules did not prohibit him from hosting the event at the Trump hotel, the Justice Department official said." That's because ethics rules, God love 'em, aren't drawn up to police character flaws like the willingness to humiliate yourself in order to line the boss's pockets. For that we rely on conscience, dignity, class, self-respect, and other endangered species in Trump's Washington.
Barr's spin doctors claim he first tried to book his party at two other DC luxury hotels: the Willard (where Lincoln stayed before he was inaugurated) and the Mayflower, where FDR stayed before his own swearing-in, scribbling furiously that we have nothing to fear but fear itself. Even if that's true, it's not like the Trump hotel is the only other hotel nearby.

A quick search turned up two dozen other hotels within walking distance of the Justice Department, including the historic Hay-Adams, which is even closer to the White House than Trump's hotel, and the Watergate, which has its own place in history.
But apple-polishing is a time-honored tradition. Twenty-five centuries ago Aristophanes wrote a play featuring a character named Paphlagon, who has been described as "repulsively obsequious yet violently quarrelsome," and intent on winning the favor of his elderly master.

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But Barr seems to be spelunking to new lows of posterior osculation. He ostentatiously auditioned for the job of attorney general by sending the Trump Justice Department -- unsolicited -- a memo prejudging the Mueller investigation as "fatally flawed." He penned an op-ed praising Trump for firing FBI Director James Comey, and later called the investigation into alleged obstruction of justice by Mr. Trump "asinine."

It worked. Flattery always works on Mad King Donald. It's not exactly a mystery that this narcissist loves being praised. He also likes money, and has refused to divest himself of his many properties, including -- you guessed it -- the eponymous hotel where Mr. Barr will be partying.

August 29, 2019

eric trump threatening to sue O'donnell

https://twitter.com/EricTrump/status/1166872975724961792



Eric Trump
@EricTrump
This was a reckless attempt to slander our family and smear a great company. Apologies are not enough when the true intent was solely to damage and cause harm. As a company, we will be taking legal action. This unethical behavior has to stop.
@Lawrence

@MSNBC
Quote Tweet

Lawrence O'Donnell
@Lawrence
· 6h
Last night I made an error in judgment by reporting an item about the president’s finances that didn’t go through our rigorous verification and standards process. I shouldn’t have reported it and I was wrong to discuss it on the air. I will address the issue on my show tonight.

August 28, 2019

47% STRONGLY DISAPPROVE of Trump

https://today.yougov.com/topics/politics/articles-reports/2019/08/27/president-trump-daily-job-approval-august-26-2019

August 27, 2019

Trump tweeted 10 minutes ago: "Great job Mr. President!"

Donald J. Trump
?
Verified account

@realDonaldTrump
10m10 minutes ago
More
It is amazing that I can be at 51% with Zogby when the Fake & Corrupt News is almost 100% against me. Great job Mr. President!

Donald J. Trump
?
Verified account

@realDonaldTrump
13m13 minutes ago
More
The G7 in France was so successful, and yet when I came back and read the Corrupt and Fake News, and watched numerous networks, it was not even recognizable from what actually took place at the Great G7 event!

August 27, 2019

Oklahoma City anchor apologizes for comparing black co-host to gorilla

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/oklahoma-city-anchor-apologizes-for-comparing-black-co-host-to-gorilla/ar-AAGoSgb?li=BBnb7Kz&ocid=iehp



In a tearful segment that aired on Oklahoma City’s KOCO-TV, morning anchor Alex Housden apologized to her co-anchor Jason Hackett after comparing him to a gorilla during a broadcast Thursday.

The racist comment occurred after the pair reported on a story about a gorilla at the Oklahoma City Zoo.

Housden ended the segment with the comment: “Kind of looks like you,” directed at Hackett.

“He kind of does, actually, yeah,” Hackett hesitantly responded.

The following day, Hackett, who is African American, accepted her apology and said he wanted to take the experience as a teachable moment to his viewers.

“The lesson here is that words matter,” he said sitting beside Housden. “We have to understand the stereotypes, we have to understand each other’s backgrounds and the words that hurt, the words that cut deep.”
Housden called the comment inconsiderate and inappropriate. She said she knows it was wrong and that she would never intentionally hurt her colleague.

“I hurt people. I want you to know I understand how much I hurt you out there and how much I hurt you,” she said tearfully turning to her co-anchor.

August 27, 2019

Barr books Trump's hotel for $30,000 holiday party

Barr books Trump’s hotel for $30,000 holiday party

Experts say private, 200-person party adds to questions about attorney general’s independence from president.

U.S. Attorney General William P. Barr is planning a holiday treat for his boss.

Last month, Barr booked President Trump’s D.C. hotel for a 200-person holiday party in December that is likely to deliver Trump’s business more than $30,000 in revenue.

Barr signed a contract, a copy of which was obtained by The Washington Post, for a “Family Holiday Party” in the hotel’s Presidential Ballroom Dec. 8. The party will feature a buffet and four-hour open bar for about 200 people.

Barr is paying for the event himself and chose the venue only after other hotels, including the Willard and the Mayflower were booked, according to a Department of Justice official. The official said the purpose of Barr’s party wasn’t to curry favor with the president.

Barr holds the bash annually, and it combines holiday festivities and a cèilidh, a party featuring Irish or Scottish music.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2019/08/27/cheers-barr-books-trumps-hotel-holiday-party/

August 27, 2019

The hardest Trump story for the press to cover: His fitness for the job

https://www.cnn.com/2019/08/25/media/donald-trump-job-fitness-press/index.html


New York (CNN Business)More erratic, more often.

I spent the week talking with major media figures at networks and newspapers. And that was the consensus: President Trump's behavior is getting worse in type and in frequency. It seems he's acting more erratic more often. Calling Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell an enemy and comparing him to the communist leader of China — sending the markets into a free fall — is one of the most recent examples.

This raises a question: Are members of the news media tiptoeing around obvious questions about Trump's instability? What do the daily lies, distortions and contradictions add up to?

This is a story that's playing out every day on our TV screens and Twitter feeds. We can all see it happening, but it's a very hard and very sensitive story to cover.