President Trump's appalling tweets have real consequences.
Take his reckless messages on MSNBC host Joe Scarborough. In the past few weeks, Trump has implied that Scarborough was responsible for the death of Lori Klausutis in 2001, who worked in his Florida office while a member of the GOP Congress.
Ironically, this conspiracy theory fueled the leftist attacks on Scarborough in 2001. It was debunked at the time, but has been revived now, by right-wing attackers, as Scarborough and his show "Morning Joe" are loud criticism from Trump. Trump said on Sunday that there was "a lot of interest in this story about Psycho Joe".
It is beyond the pale, and any honest broker in politics and in the media knows this. As Josh Feldman of Mediaite noted here, Trump is "trashed" for pushing the plot. If you are unsure of the facts, read past fact checks from the PA and other media.
Three tweets on the right
- Brit Hume of Fox reacting to one of Trump's shameful messages: "30,000 retweets for this discredited tale, based on a three-year message from a winged website. That's why even his critics should want DJT plays a lot of golf, because when he does, he doesn't tweet bullshit like that. "
- Jay Nordlinger of NRO: "What Trump is engaged in here is sick beyond belief. All people of good will - and even some with less good will - should take it into account."
- David Frum: "Yesterday, the president accused a prominent citizen of murder. Surely the attorney general wants to be right about this important news? American prosecutors? Fox News crack investigation team? Judge Jeanine? Or are they all tacitly agree: Trump's words are just empty madness? "
"Bullying attempts ..."
Here's what an MSNBC spokesperson said earlier this month when Trump launched this mad crusade: "Attempts to intimidate and intimidate the free press, including through the bizarre peddling of theories of the plot bangs, will not prevent Joe Scarborough, Mika Brzezinski or any of MSNBC journalists or analysts are not required to be accountable. We will continue to report accurately and thoroughly on how the White House managed the coronavirus pandemic. "
To you, Twitter ...
I inquired about the accusing tweets, and Twitter declined to comment: "We have nothing to share yet," said a spokesperson ...
The capture of Donie
In this sense, I don't think the people who join the choir of calling social media companies to muzzle Trump have really thought about what they suggest and the precedent they suggest. BUT ... Twitter clearly set out its rules here - it did a whole public relations campaign on how it would tag tweets from world leaders who broke its rules. In this sense, it must be realized ...
Imagine if ...
Oliver Darcy writes: As Trump continues his attempts to smear Scarborough with this conspiracy theory, it's worth doing this thought experiment: imagine how the President's allies would behave if the tables were turned upside down and Scarborough used his powerful platform to suggest that Trump had committed murder. They would be (rightly) outraged and called for his dismissal. So why the silence from them now? Why are the standards higher for a cable news anchor than the President of the United States?
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