The president has better things to do than to spar with this conga line of hacks and fools
By: Jon Dougherty @TheNatSent
(TNS) One of the main reasons why we’d like to see the coronavirus outbreak contained — other than to stop the suffering and death, of course — is so President Donald Trump can end traditional press conferences again.
Because frankly, they are pointless exercises involving self-important ‘journalists’ with blow-dried egos who have no interest in reporting anything useful to the American public.
That’s why, before coronavirus, the president had switched from having regular press conferences to simply addressing the mainstream media hacks on his way to Marine One: To prevent them from turning briefings into the clown shows they have once again become.
On Sunday, the president held a virus update press conference to announce that he was extending his original “15 days to control the spread” plan another month — until April 30. Obviously, the president is listening to his outbreak experts Dr. Anthony Fauci and Dr. Deborah Birx, both of whom said on various news programs yesterday that the worst is yet to come for the outbreak.
“The modeling estimates that the peak in death rate is likely to hit in two weeks. I will say it again. The peak, the highest point of death rates, remember this, is likely to hit in two weeks… Therefore, we will be extending our guidelines to April 30, to slow the spread,” he said.
The president went on to remark that his earlier statements about getting a majority of the country back up and running by Easter “just an aspiration,” adding: “We can expect that by June 1, we will be well on our way to recovery” and that “a lot of great things will be happening.”
And while some questions Trump got from the hack gallery were pointed, others were simply exercises in entrapment — the regular, boring, useless, fact-free attempts to play “gotcha” with a president who is obviously sick and tired of the games.
At one point, PBS White House correspondent Yamiche Alcindor asked Trump about something he told Fox News’ Sean Hannity last week about state governor requests for equipment — which the president quickly shut down.
Fox News noted:
Also at the briefing, Trump unloaded after PBS News’ Yamiche Alcindor — a frequent Trump antagonist who previously has asked numerous questions during coronavirus briefings about whether an unnamed administration official really used the term “Kung Flu” — began with another critical query about Trump’s past comments to Fox News on New York’s demands or ventilators.
Specifically, Alcindor accused Trump of saying that governors were requesting equipment they “don’t actually need.” In fact, Trump said that in some cases, “equipment’s being asked for that I don’t think they’ll need” by the end of the pandemic. Alcindor doubled down when Trump pushed back on her characterization of his comments.
“Why don’t you people act a little more positively — it’s always trying to get-you, get-you, get you,” Trump responded. “And you know what? That’s why nobody trusts the media anymore. That’s why you used to work for the Times and now you work for somebody else. Let me tell you something: Be nice. Don’t be threatening. Be nice.”
"That's why you used to work for the Times and now you work for somebody else" — Trump unloads on Yacmiche Alcindor for asking him a question about his attacks on blue state governors pic.twitter.com/iVe5fWEXjG
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) March 29, 2020
The president would remind Alcindor that she’s supposed to be a “journalist” reporting facts based on issues that really matter to people — not cherry-picking the president’s previous responses (and getting them wrong).
Her response?
Alcindor took to Twitter, of course, to whine that the president is a “racist” “sexist” who treats her badly because he’s a “racist” “sexist.”
President Trump today at the White House said to me: “Be nice. Don't be threatening.”
I’m not the first human being, woman, black person or journalist to be told that while doing a job.
My take: Be steady. Stay focused. Remember your purpose. And, always press forward.
— Yamiche Alcindor (@Yamiche) March 29, 2020
And let the Trump pile-on begin:
Who just gave Yamiche back the mic ?? THANK YOU!!!!!
— Mika Brzezinski (@morningmika) March 29, 2020
https://twitter.com/AliVelshi/status/1244400866301526018?s=20
bravo to my @cnn colleague @JDiamond1 for, once called on, handing microphone to @yamiche so she could resume the questioning that Trump earlier cut off with his false and inappropriate tirade
— John Harwood (@JohnJHarwood) March 29, 2020
Couldn’t be prouder of @Yamiche for refusing to be intimidated. This is real journalism. What’s sad is that she has to take this on a regular basis from this condescending asshole. https://t.co/l4jJtjnV8Z
— Jemele Hill (@jemelehill) March 29, 2020
Pathetic. While the country craves real information about coronavirus so Americans can better understand what is happening to their lives and livelihoods right now, we get this kind of mindless, inane, nonsensical waste of our time.
The president has better things to do than to spar with this conga line of hacks and fools. And Americans deserve better from the corporate media.
For more information about COVID-19 click here.
This article originally appeared at The National Sentinel and was republished with permission.
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