to be watching with my jaw dropped as Trump goes into full meltdown at his press briefing?

[sadpapercourtesan]

Is anyone else watching this?! He is literally ranting like a man possessed, I've never seen anything like it. He's declared war on the media (I know we're used to him lashing out at journalists but this is on another level)

I'm watching it on CNN and they have breaking news straplines like "Trump uses task force briefing to rewrite history on coronavirus response", "Angry Trump turns briefing into propaganda session" and "Angry Trump uses propaganda video, produced by government employees at taxpayers' expense"

He has just said, verbatim: "When somebody is President of the United States, that authority is total"

I thought our daily briefings were bullshit

The US was a major founder of most of these international bodies

Trump is trashing the work of previous POTUSes since WW2,
the work of generations of ordinary Americans too,

He is wrecking institutions that other countries value and need
he is storing up so much resentment against the USA

The next sane, sensible POTUS - who must be elected at some future time - will have a real struggle to mend all the smashed fences
and regain some US prestige

Of course no respectable poll will ask whites whether they wish to keep power, keep African Americans out of power

Exactly. So why did you even mention this as a factor? By the way, it was those very working class whites who twice voted Barack Obama into office.

Loads of my Trump-voting family proudly voted for Obama (the first time at least, second time maybe reluctantly since Romney was such a putz)

Regardless of what you think of US politics or Trump in general: that press conference was an absolute fucking train wreck and I'm stunned that people are actually defending his behaviour in it.

No I’m not. I’m embarrassed. I moved before he was a candidate to the UK and was grateful I did when he won.

His history is abhorrent and his policies were dangerous when I looked into them. Even then, he looked to be going against human rights. Why would I want that as a president? Former President Obama had his faults but he was way better than Trump. Heck, Trump makes George W. Bush look like Einstein.

The US was a major founder of most of these international bodies

Believe they also set up the League of Nations too. Fact is, most Americans do not care about these international bodies. It is not a vote winner, which is probably as another poster mentioned, why America first resonated.

Mockers When you add up all the people who want one or more of the things listed upthread,
that probably does reach 45%

Political change will only happen when voters decide that all the policies and faults, that they have been deliberately ignoring,
are too high a price to pay

Reportedly, 1 in 10 US workers are unemployed atm
certainly a historically high % anyway

In November, will they blame the "Chinese / Democrat virus for this,
or shrug it off as an Act of God (cruel bitch that she is)
or look at how only state governors and a few experts like Fauci have saved them from the full consequences of Trump's gross incompetence and irresponsibility

My relatives support him fervently. They'd probably follow him off a cliff. They are otherwise loving, kind people, not dribbling lunatics. They believe any anti-Trump news is lies. The reason? They solely watch Fox News. You should really check it out - it's barking mad. Refusing to engage in any discussion that challenges your opinion by saying anyone or anything that disagrees with you is a liar/lies with no proof needed is religious thinking. My relatives are very religious. They're well versed in the lalala-I'm-not-listening-to-anything-I-don't want-to-hear way of living. Fox's key demographic.

Of course, if the US chooses to step aside from this, they lose a great deal of power and needn't expect the support they always demand in return for their foreign policy objectives

Actually this would be amazing. Please don’t support American foreign policy initiatives.

HelloToMyKitty Why mention it ?
because the polls on attitudes and values are very revealing
Attitudes of some white voters in the Southern states especially

No of course not every Trump voter is a racist, but they still vote for a lifelong racist,
so it shows their priorities

Many people can be indifferent about foreign institutions,
but only very destructive people want to actually destroy them all

What is even more scary than Trump's meltdown is the unwavering support in tweets from his fans. They justify every ridiculous thing he says with the same fake news rhetoric that he bellows out when he can't answer a question. It's like The Emperor's New Clothes.

And yet his approval ratings continue to hover in the mid to high forties

But in times of crisis, ratings usually go up substantially. Bush 9/11, Gulf War etc. Not this time. Trump's went up by only 5 points, not sure if that's stayed. Bush's went up 35 points. He, of course, went on to lose, but at the time it went up a lot.

Even if a politician had the exact perfect policies I had always wanted, I'd still dump them if ...

they continually misused their office for personal gain and to punish opponents
continually lied and presented a completely fake alternative reality
indulged in incoherent rambling
were obviously completely unfit and actually dangerous in office

I would admit if I screwed up that badly and had helped elected a monster
I'd correct my mistake at the first opportunity to campaign and vote against them.

I wouldn't batten down the hatches and continue regardless

Oh my. That briefing was astonishing.

I do not believe it will prevent him being re-elected.

Believe they also set up the League of Nations too.

No, although the idea originated with the President Woodrow Wilson, the USA didn't join League of Nations. This is believed to have contributed to its failure to prevent WW2.

@Carouselfish - Unbelievable isn't it? I have ex friends who support him, mostly on the basis that they couldn't vote for Hillary as she was pro choice, which I don't get as they voted for Obama

Really worry that Biden isn't going to sway the vote back to the Democrats as there were so many life long Democrats who voted for Trump and felt there wasn't a choice.

@Roussette wait until the peak is over. There will very likely be a lot of days between then until November for the Trump bump.

Carouselfish thank you for your post, it provides a very interesting insight into who is supporting Trump. I hope you’re not offended when I say how frightening this is. I can only liken it to the days of religious fervour in the Middle Ages when people believed most everything they were told and anyone who didn’t was decried. Luckily people don’t get burnt at the stake these days.

Dictator. Watch this space ...

He's really missing those rallies. He can't go full circus master at these briefings and it's driving him further up the wall.

Thank you @Jaichangecentfoisdenom used your link!

That was awful!

What I don't understand is, while Trump certainly lacks statesmanship, why is it that years down the line he is STILL getting riled up by the press like this?

Surely he is debriefed, and given a run down of expected questions and given plausible responses? Surely the issues with his image should have been tackled by now?

I do think sometimes the reporters are a bit goady, but why does he lose the plot completely like this? It is so unbecoming of his office.

Not a Trump hater or supporter; I think America has had presidents who have done - as opposed to said - worse things while ostensibly ticking all the right (acceptable) boxes, Bush being one of them. But when he speaks he comes across as a complete incompetent and I cannot understand why his staff are allowing it.

It's cringeworthy. He is the PRESIDENT of the United States of America. He needs to be better.

Yes, he waddles. When he enters the briefing I can't help but see him as a huge king penguin toy.

Your interpretation of what Trump voters wanted is very off and subject to your biases.
It's really hard to speak in an unbiased way about Trump. Who knew there were people who would chant 'build a wall' in relation to human beings

He may currently be President, but his aim is to establish a dynastic dictatorship and if he's not stopped, and democracy not upheld, that will happen very shortly.
I'm afraid I don't think Biden is enough to stop him. They should have gone with Elizabeth Warren. Actually, I rather wish Michelle Obama had taken it upon herself to stand, but that wouldn't have played out too well, I'm sure

Didn't Elizabeth Warren falsely assert that she belonged to an ethnic minority and use that to get special dispensations in college?

I don't blame Michelle for not standing honestly.

But Fox does not have 48% of the US electorate watching it. There is a very real resentment of the smug chatshow hosts locked out of their fake penthouse apartment sets and forced to host their shows from their spacious and well-appointed homes.

Saw the Roger Ailes Documentary recently. His demise came on the day Trump won the nomination. When it came, it was swift. He was not shown into Murdoch's office and given notice. They locked him out of the building. Murdoch can do that. He is a camp follower pretends to be a kingmaker. He backs those he thinks will win, then drops them. He switched from Wilson to Thatcher to Blair without a moment's self-reflection.

If a white knight should come riding over the hill to save US Conservatism from itself and restore honesty and honour to power, he may take a shine to it. For purely tactical reasons.