| | | | Donald Trump's dangerous moral failure on Charlottesville | | Donald Trump is who we thought he was.
After a campaign in which he was slow to condemn the likes of white supremacist David Duke, routinely spoke in coded racial language to energize a segment of people angry about the changing face of the country and condoned violence against those who disagreed with him, Trump, over the last four days, has proven that he is that same person as president.
And that person is the opposite of a leader. And that person is dangerous to this country's well-being.
Trump's comments at a press availability at the Trump Tower on Tuesday not only revealed, again, his remarkable blindness to the racial history and realities of this country, but also showed his willingness to stake out morally indefensible positions as the result of personal pique.
Three days after insisting the blame for the Charlottesville, Virginia, protests spurred by neo-Nazis and white supremacists lay "on many sides," and just a day removed from a more fulsome condemnation of those groups, Trump returned to his original position -- that this was a situation where both sides were wrong and the only people who disagreed with that were the fake news media.
"I watched those very closely, much more closely than you people watched it," Trump lectured the assembled reporters. "And you have -- you had a group on one side that was bad, and you had a group on the other side that was also very violent, and nobody wants to say that, but I'll say it right now."
And, again: "I think there's blame on both sides. And I have no doubt about it, and you don't have any doubt about it either."
And, again: "I only tell you this, there are two sides to a story. I thought what took place was a horrible moment for our country, a horrible moment. But there are two sides to (it)."
That view is factually inaccurate. Only one side with one belief system was involved in a speeding car being rammed into a group of counterprotesters -- an incident that left one woman dead and more than a dozen others injured. Only one group in Charlottesville on Saturday bases its entire "belief" system on the inferiority of other people because of their race or religion. Only one group on Saturday speaks admiringly of a murderous dictator who killed millions.
Trump knows this. He is not dumb. He is not unfamiliar with history. And the fact that he knows it and, therefore, knows what he's doing with this faux attempt at moral relativism, makes him all the more dangerous. Because it means he understands the power of grievance, the power of rewriting history -- or the present -- to fit into a contorted ideology that catalyzes hate into political power.
Read my full analysis here.
-- Chris | | TRUMP'S TROUBLESOME QUOTES | | CNN's Greg Krieg writes:
After a brief round of remarks on his plans to revamp US infrastructure, Trump offered to take questions from reporters. Here are five of the most inflammatory and bizarre statements Trump made during the Q&A.
1. "I wanted to make sure, unlike most politicians, that what I said was correct, not make a quick statement. The statement I made on Saturday, the first statement, was a fine statement. But you don't make statements that direct unless you know the facts. It takes a little while to get the facts. ... I want to know the facts." -On why he waited two days to denounce the racist groups
2. "You can call it terrorism. You can call it murder. You can call it whatever you want. I would just call it as the fastest one to come up with a good verdict. That's what I'd call it. Because there is a question. Is it murder? Is it terrorism? And then you get into legal semantics. The driver of the car is a murderer. And what he did was a horrible, horrible, inexcusable thing." -On whether the attack that killed Heather Heyer in Charlottesville was 'terrorism'
3. "What about the alt-left that came charging them? Excuse me. What about the alt-left that came charging at the -- as you say, the alt-right? Do they have any semblance of guilt? ... Let me ask you this. What about the fact they came charging -- that they came charging with clubs in their hands, swinging clubs? Do they have any problem? I think they do." -When asked about the alt-right's influence in Charlottesville
4. "Not all of those people were neo-Nazis, believe me. Not all of those people were white supremacists, by any stretch. Those people were also there because they wanted to protest the taking down of a statue, Robert E. Lee." -While defending the "Unite the Right" demonstrators against accusations of racism
5. "So this week it's Robert E. Lee. I noticed that Stonewall Jackson's coming down. I wonder, is it George Washington next week? And is it Thomas Jefferson the week after? You know, you all -- you really do have to ask yourself, where does it stop?"-While echoing the right wing argument against removing Confederate monuments
Krieg picked out even more quotes. Check his story out here. | | CNN's Jeff Zeleny sent us a dispatch from Trump Tower, pre-press conference. He wrote:
President Trump loves his hometown of New York City. Yet the feeling is hardly mutual. That point became clear again Tuesday when the White House all but moved to Trump Tower for the first time since January.
Pedestrians grumbled, their passage blocked by police barricades. Drivers honked, their route complicated by Trump's return to the city. But for most of this rainy day, there were far more police than protesters. It was, in fact, a difficult day to heckle the President -- even from a distance.
The NYPD effectively shut down Fifth Avenue and the surrounding blocks around Trump Tower. Reporters were asked many questions, including: When does Trump go back to his golf course in New Jersey?
The answer: Wednesday. | | | Photo courtesy: YouTube Screengrab/HBO/Vice | | | Vice News was on the ground during the Charlottesville "Unite the Right" rally over the weekend, which left one person dead and many more injured. On Monday, Vice uploaded "Charlottesville: Race and Terror" onto YouTube, and it's been circulating the web ever since. It may be hard to watch, but it's still a must-watch. | | | Since T. Swift has been super inspirational lately (see CNN's coverage of her legal battle against former radio host David Mueller for alleged assault and battery), today's recommended listen is "Out of the Woods." | | CNN's Eric Bradner wrote Tuesday:
Voters in Alabama on Tuesday night will decide who will get Attorney General Jeff Sessions' old seat.
Sen. Luther Strange -- who was appointed in February to fill the seat through the special election and is backed by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and President Donald Trump -- faces two other major candidates: former state Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore and US Rep. Mo Brooks.
The polls close at 8 p.m. ET.
Read more in Eric's story here. Chris also wrote a story this morning about the Alabama race. He talked to Brian Lyman of the Montgomery Advertiser to gain more insight. | | | The Mooch is loose on late night.
Anthony Scaramucci, who spent less than two weeks as the White House communications director appeared on "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" on Monday. Chris highlighted the 17 best (and worst) lines from the interview.
Also during the episode, Colbert listed all the things Trump hates more than Nazis. | | Republican Sen. Dean Heller confirmed that he voted for President Donald Trump, The Nevada Independent's Riley Snyder reported Tuesday.
"The acknowledgement follows nearly a year and a half of criticism and cautious public statements made by Heller about Trump throughout the 2016 election," Riley wrote. "Most notably, he told reporters in October 2016 that he was 99% certain he would oppose the Republican nominee for president."
Heller is up for re-election in 2018. Danny Tarkanian, a Nevada businessman, recently announced his intent to run against Heller for the Senate seat. | | The New York Times on Tuesday published a feature on a musical group called the Long Island Vegetable Orchestra, which "plays instruments made entirely from vegetables." They have to make fresh instruments out of vegetables every time they play, since veggies don't last. Here's a YouTube video of the group performing in 2011.
But fun fact: This isn't the only vegetable orchestra around. NYT points out two other groups: The Viennese Vegetable Orchestra and the London Vegetable Orchestra.
BRB, going to spend the rest of the evening trying to figure out how to make (and later play) a vegetable instrument. | | | And we like you! Like us -- love us? -- and spread the word to subscribe to The Point. | | We'd love to share our other newsletters with you. Follow this link for daily coverage of the world's top stories, savvy market insights, an insider's look into the media, and more. Our authors for The Point are Chris Cillizza and Saba Hamedy. Send your tips and thoughts via email to Chris or Saba. Follow on Twitter: Chris and Saba. | | | Get the Nightcap, a comprehensive summary of the most important political news, delivered to your inbox daily. | | | | | |
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