'I don't take responsibility at all': Trump deflects blame for coronavirus testing fumble
Trump has spent weeks downplaying the virus' outbreak.
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Dear Clueless Media,
Donald Trump said it, and you didn't listen.
You thought he was talking about his response to the coronavirus, but he was telling you much more. He was describing exactly how he manipulates the message so he can claim credit for the decisions and actions of others when they yield positive results and to deny responsibility when they fail.
He told you everything about himself on January 23, 2016 when he said, "I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn't lose any voters."
And you thought he was exaggerating.
Here's how it works:
Positions of authority come with power, specifically the power to control messaging. Trump has mastered the skill of making others do what he wants done without having to say so directly. It's a skill used by dictators, abusive spouses, pedophile priests, self-serving religious leaders, movie moguls, and con men like Trump.Here's why it works:
Trump talks in generalities and never gives orders. Those who are bound to him by duty or financial need understand what he wants them to do, and they do it.
You, the clueless media, are no exception.
Case in point: This Week's Hot News Topic
Here are the headlines you used to describe vague statements Trump made about his desire to open up the country by Easter:
Fox: Trump sets goal to re-open US economy by Easter
CNN: Trump says he wants the country 'opened up and just raring to go by Easter,' despite health experts' warnings
Here's what Trump actually said:
FOX: Speaking during a Fox News town hall on Tuesday, Trump reiterated he was eager to see the nation return to normal soon, even as doctors warn the nation will see a massive spike in cases if Americans return to crowded workplaces or events.
CNN: Asked who suggested the Easter date, Trump said it was him."I thought it was a beautiful time. A beautiful timeline," he said.
Pressed whether it was based on data, he said: "It was based on a certain level of weeks from the time we started and it happened to arrive, we were thinking of terms of sooner. I'd love to see it come sooner."
No specifics, no orders, and you fell for it.
Instead of educating America about how Trump is conning the country; instead of showing us how he deliberately avoids taking any action or making any decision, which, while absolutely necessary, might prove ineffective and thereby detrimental to his reelection; instead of exposing how he manipulates the message, you have taken the bait, responding instead to his deliberately incoherent, contradictory, and empty rhetoric and surrendered your authority and credibility as truth tellers to him and his lies.
Need more proof? Read these quotes from the article linked at the top of this page (emphasis added):
President Donald Trump on Friday deflected blame for his administration’s lagging ability to test Americans for the coronavirus outbreak, insisting instead — without offering evidence — that fault lies with his predecessor, Barack Obama.
“I don't take responsibility at all,” Trump said defiantly, pointing to an unspecified “set of circumstances” and “rules, regulations and specifications from a different time.”
But wait! There's more.
Testifying before Congress, Michael Cohen told you exactly how Donald Trump manipulates others into doing his dirty work in order to avoid accountability, but you didn't listen or believe him.
“Everybody’s job at the Trump Organization was to protect Trump”
Michael Cohen, former attorney for President Donald Trump, testifies before the House Oversight and Reform Committee on Wednesday. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call)
Selected quotes from the article:
Kentucky Republican Thomas Massie countered Connolly’s questioning by asking Cohen whether Trump had explicitly told him to lie to Congress or if Cohen had simply relied on his “intuition.”
“Did you at that time … do what you thought Mr. Trump wanted you to do, not specifically what he’s told you to do?” Massie asked.
“At times, yes,” Cohen responded.
“So you just went on your intuition?” Massie said.
“I don’t know if I would call it intuition as much as i would just say, my knowledge of what he wanted, because it happened before and I knew what he had wanted,” Cohen said.
Asked by Massie how Trump would communicate indirectly with subordinates, Cohen replied, “That’s how he speaks. He doesn’t give you questions, he doesn’t give you orders — he speaks in a code. And I understand the code because I’ve been around him for a decade.”
When Tennessee Democrat Jim Cooper, one of the more soft-spoken members of Congress, asked him whether Trump would threaten his business adversaries with physical violence, Cohen responded that he did not do it himself — rather, he would “use others within the Trump Organization.”
Are you listening now?
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