President Donald Trump is being roundly criticized for tweeting insults against Mika Brzezinski and Joe Scarborough, two MSNBC anchors who make their living insulting him. But Donald Trump did not give up his First Amendment rights when he took the oath of office, James Freeman points out in the WSJ. It’s unclear why the president would denigrate fellow celebrities, says Mr. Freeman, but it may have something to do with the content of their program.
On Wednesday morning’s show, for example, Mr. Scarborough called the President “the greatest liar that’s ever sat in the White House.” Judging from a cursory search of online stories about the daily MSNBC program, calling the President a liar appears to be a staple of its morning commentary. And of course, like all MSNBC shows, there is the usual evidence-free questioning of whether Mr. Trump betrayed his country to get elected and aims to rule as an authoritarian.
Ms. Brzezinski has referred to the Trump Administration as a “fake presidency” and has suggested that the President is “not well” and perhaps even “mentally ill,” according to a report earlier this month in The Hill.
Ron Brownstein, editorial director of National Journal Group, wants Republicans to do something about President Trump’s tweets. But what, asks Ramesh Ponnuru in NRO.
Criticism seems to me to be exactly the right response to this morning’s presidential misbehavior. I’m open to the argument that Republican officials should back up that criticism with action–if only I saw a reasonable action they should take. What exactly do Brownstein et al want the Republican critics of Trump’s tweets to do about them? Speaker Ryan can’t take away Trump’s twitter account. Senator Graham can’t give Trump the self-restraint and decency neither nature nor upbringing seems to have supplied him. I asked the question on twitter, and haven’t gotten a great answer yet. Is Senator Sasse supposed to impeach Trump over his tweets? That’s what some respondents suggested. I am sorry to say that it seems necessary to point out that this response is insane. If it were sane, it would mean that none of the criticisms of Trump made by Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer should be taken seriously, either, since they haven’t declared for impeachment either.
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Debbie Young
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