I have got to the stage where I simply zip past any news story about the absurd things that Donald Trump says or tweets or the rumors and gossip about White House goings on. It seems to be not worth it to follow those squirrels that Trump seems to release every day, given his unlimited capacity for lying.
But I must say that this latest story took me aback. You may know that Trump released two disgusting tweets attacking the intelligence and personal appearance of Mika Brzezinski, co-host of the morning chat show on MSNBC Morning Joe. In response, her co-host Joe Scarborough (who is also her fiance) explained the background to this animosity and revealed that they had been the victims of what can only be seen as an attempt at intimidation on Trump’s behalf by someone close to him (who is rumored to be his son-in-law Jared Kushner).
Listen below to what they say happened.
This is a chilling story. https://t.co/HYJgBnajOy via @Morning_Joe https://t.co/6UCEHzfOET
— Bradd Jaffy (@BraddJaffy) June 30, 2017
If true, and it seems like it could be easily corroborated, this is far more serious than the random spewing of gratuitous insults. I am not sure if it rises to the technical legal standard of blackmail but it surely comes close. Scarborough says that all this happened earlier this year and that he has the texts and phone records that support his version of the story. I am not sure why he did not reveal this earlier, along with the evidence, but there will be pressure for him to do so now.
The threat issued by Trump’s aide was that a damaging story about the couple would appear in the National Enquirer (whose owner is a close friend of Trump’s) and the demand was for them to call Trump and apologize to him for their coverage of him. They didn’t apologize and the resulting story that appeared turned out to be a damp squib. Trump seems to have made a rookie gangster mistake, making an offer that the victims could refuse.
My reactions to this story range from being alarmed at such blatant attempts at intimidation to being amused at the ineptness of it all. The whole thing reminds me of the Vercotti brothers, except this is serious.
Years back I read an article which stated that Bill Gates’ time is so valuable, and his role so important, that should he drop a $100 bill, it would not be worth his time to stop and stoop to pick it up. I know that all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy, but surely the POTUS could focus more on his his presidency and achieve more by not stopping and stooping and wasting valuable time.
You might want to have a look at Rachel Maddow’s take on it, not really on the content of the tweets but rather the intent behind them: http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow/watch/maddow-trump-behavior-hurts-the-presidency-but-he-doesn-t-care-981068867877
In light of the current kerfuffle, it was interesting to read this post in the Rolling Stone from last year:
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/morning-blow-how-joe-and-mika-became-trumps-lapdogs-20160223
grasshopper says, at July 1, 2017 at 5:39 pm
There’s a majority school of thought, around the world, that sees the more 45 wastes his time, the better off we all are.
So far Trump hasn’t nominated a single ambassador to Europe. Considering his other nominations, that is a good thing.