Instead of trying to be a calming influence in a time of competing crises, Trump is throwing gas (and gaslight) on the fire in a cynical effort to help him get reelected.
August 28, 2020

The country is engulfed in massive civil unrest over the constant maiming and murdering of Black Americans by law enforcement, unrest which has been exacerbated by Donald Trump's unfortunate reaction to these historic events.

Instead of trying to be a calming influence and a leader who understands these issues, Trump is cynically using the situation as a political tool to help him get re-elected.

In his Thursday night's acceptance speech, Trump characterized peaceful protesters as something everybody can support as did many other speechifying Trump supporters throughout the RNC.

But that's an obvious ruse. He exposed himself when Trump gassed peaceful protesters (with the help of our military) to clear a path away from the White House in order to take a very uncomfortable photo-op in front of a church holding up an upside-down Bible like it was covered in acid.

In that moment, he lost any chance of being credible on the issue of supporting protesters' right to protest.

Kellyanne Conway gave away the store when she told the truth, outlining why encouraging and inflaming these protesters and welcoming militia groups to participate is good politics for Donald Trump.

During his speech, Trump also gaslighted everyone with his claims that if Biden is elected he would destroy America.

Joe Biden wants to inflict a painful shutdown on the entire country. His shutdown would inflict unthinkable and lasting harm on our nation’s children, families and citizens of all backgrounds. The cost of the Biden shutdown would be measured in increased drug overdoses, depression, alcohol addiction, suicides, heart attacks, economic devastation, job loss and much more. Joe Biden’s plan is not a solution to the virus, but rather it’s a surrender to the virus.

Our country needed a total shut down in order to contain the virus has many other countries around the world have done. The results are a window into what was needed and also a window into the callous disregard of human life Trump took to save his own political career.

Trump's actions in dealing with COVID-19 have caused millions of Americans to lose their jobs and close to 200,000 Americans to lose their lives so far as well as thousands of small businesses to close shop forever.

But, fear Biden?

And let's get honest, Trumps' economy and job loss is the worst in our history.

jobs_loss_under_trump_historic

It's a lie to say Biden is going to shut down the entire country when what he suggested was a national mask mandate to protect our population from getting infected. He also promised that if scientists agreed and recommended a shutdown, he would do it and follow the science. Trump squandered his shutdown. Biden wouldn't.

A virus is just that. It's not a murderous dictator trying to overthrow his neighbors or a terrorist group plotting their next attack.

You don't surrender to it, but take measures to curtail it and then have it treated and hopefully cured by using science, not detergents and making believe it never happened..

But not in Trump's America. His minions have told the elderly population they should sacrifice their lives for the grandchildren and go back to work to prop up the US economy to help Trump get reelected.

Li'l Saddam also spewed this despicable idea: If a Democratic politician wins the White House they will destroy America. Never before has a president stooped so low and so shallow against an opponent, particularly when ALL of the destruction over the past 3 1/2 years has been at the hands of the man making that claim.

This is reminiscent how Trump started off his campaign in 2015 by claiming Mexican interim immigrants were rapists and murderers.

That continued throughout his xenophobic administration until the midterms, where he and his TV surrogates tried to scare people into believing hordes of immigrants were crossing our borders to invade our homes, steal our wives, and eat our babies.

Digby has a great take on this in her Salon column: There’s nothing to fear but Trump himself

The third theme is the one they plan to run with all the way to November, and it's clearly the one Trump himself relishes the most: No one will be safe in Joe Biden's America. If he wins the election you will have to run for your lives, because bad people from "Democrat-run cities" will be coming to kill you in your beds.

When you stop and think about it, this is the same line he used in 2016 about Muslims and immigrants. He obsessed over ISIS beheadings and suggested that America had to fight fire with fire. He gave lurid speech after lurid speech describing immigrants crossing the border to rape and kill "real" Americans (which of course means white people).. And you'll recall that before the 2018 election he conjured up "caravans" full of dark-skinned "invaders" heading for the U.S. border, who were also coming to kill you in your beds.

What they warn about is what they plan to do.

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