What Trump Said When About COVID
Recent Reviews
The Cagneys
A Midsummer Night's Dream (1935)
Something to Sing About (1937)
Angels with Dirty Faces (1938)
A Lion Is In the Streets (1953)
Man of a Thousand Faces (1957)
Never Steal Anything Small (1959)
Shake Hands With the Devil (1959)
Tuesday October 15, 2024
Times, Times, Times, Look What's Become of Them - III
Noem's face tells us more than the New York Times lede.
What are the facts surrounding the Donald Trump rally last night outside Philadelphia?
- There were two medical emergencies in the crowd, the first 30 minutes into the Town Hall, the second shortly thereafter
- The Town Hall was suspended
- The gathering didn't disperse; instead, Trump called for music (“Hey Justin, how about a couple of really beauties, and we'll sit down and relax”) and stood on stage, listening and bobbing his head for 30 minutes
Here's how The New York Times described it. And let me highlight the areas about which I have questions:
Donald J. Trump was about 30 minutes into a town hall Monday night in suburban Philadelphia when a medical emergency in the crowd brought the questions and answers to a halt. Moments later, he tried to get back on track, when another medical incident seemed to derail things, this time for good.
And so Mr. Trump, a political candidate known for improvisational departures, made a detour. Rather than try to restart the political program, he seemed to decide in the moment that it would be more enjoyable for all concerned — and, it appeared, for himself — to just listen to music instead.
Mr. Trump had his staff fire up his campaign playlist, standing on the stage for about half an hour and swaying to songs as his crowd slowly dwindled.
He bobbed his head through the Village People's “Y.M.C.A.,” his usual closing song. He swayed soberly to Rufus Wainwright's version of “Hallelujah,” watched a Sinead O'Connor video, rocked along to Elvis, watched the crowd during “Rich Men North of Richmond” and then, finally, left the stage to shake hands on his way out during one last song.
This used to be called “sugarcoating,” and in 2016 we called it “normalizing.” For the kids, it's “sanewashing.” But no matter what you call it, the Times is going out of its way to make odd behavior, questionable behavior, seem normal. And they only seem to do it with Donald Trump and the GOP. It goes one way. With the Dems, they hold their feet to the fire for minor missteps. With Trump, he could take a dump on the stage and the one-time Paper of Record would tell us he's a political candidate know for his earthiness.
To the questions about the highlighted:
- Why would this derail things for good? Even later in the article, writer Michael Gold mentions that medical emergencies at Trump rallies this summer stopped nothing. “But Mr. Trump generally returns to his planned remarks after medical issues at other events. On Monday, he seemed more uncertain how to proceed.”
- “A political candidate known for improvisational departures” is the chef's kiss of normalizing Trump's batshit ramblings.
- “He seemed to decide in the moment that it would be more enjoyable for all concerned — and, it appeared, for himself — to just listen to music instead.” Too much “seemed” and “appeared” to be this high up in the article. But if you're going to include it, also include the later line: “he seemed more uncertain how to proceed.”
Here's the key to it all: Trump did something that confused everybody. Nobody knew how to proceed: the music guy, Gov. Kristin Noem of South Dakota, who was moderating, nor the audience. This is the third-to-last graf of the story. It should be near the top:
But after “Y.M.C.A.” ended, Mr. Trump seemed a little perplexed. “There's nobody leaving,” he said. “What's going on?” The audience cheered, and so the music kept going, as Ms. Noem stood awkwardly by, and many in the audience seemed unsure about whether the event was over.
Finally, no explanation why Gov. Noem of South Dakota was moderating an event near Philadelphia.