Donald Trump is only 24 days into his administration, and already he and his White House team are embroiled in scandal. The media has rightfully been all over the resignation of his National Security Adviser, retired Army General Michael Flynn. Flynn’s ousting comes as a bombshell report showed that he talked to the Russian government about U.S. sanctions prior to Trump taking office. Naturally, this is leading to more questions regarding Trump’s ties to Russia. There will be congressional investigations into the matter. So, of course, Trump is in full-on panic mode.
As we all know he does before working in the mornings, Trump is watching the cable shows and ranting on Twitter about how unfair they are to cover him. Anything unfavorable gets attacked as “unwatchable,” “nonsense,” and his favorite, “FAKE NEWS.” Here’s what he is saying as he busily switches between CNN’s New Day, MSNBC’s Morning Joe, and Fox News’ Fox and Friends, all while also apparently reading the New York Times and the Washington Post:
The fake news media is going crazy with their conspiracy theories and blind hatred. @MSNBC & @CNN are unwatchable. @foxandfriends is great!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 15, 2017
This Russian connection non-sense is merely an attempt to cover-up the many mistakes made in Hillary Clinton's losing campaign.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 15, 2017
Information is being illegally given to the failing @nytimes & @washingtonpost by the intelligence community (NSA and FBI?).Just like Russia
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 15, 2017
Trump even went on to accuse the man whose sanctions he wants to lift, President Obama, of being too soft on Russia:
Crimea was TAKEN by Russia during the Obama Administration. Was Obama too soft on Russia?
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 15, 2017
That’s pretty rich, considering that no matter how hard he is pressed, no one can get Trump to say so much as ONE bad word about Russia or Vladimir Putin. He even went so far as to insist that America was morally on par with Russia and Putin rather than condemn the murderous thuggery happening in that regime.
There are two important points here. Firstly, a hallmark of autocrats is to try to control the messaging to the public, and to either discredit or silence dissenting voices and the free press. They must make any and all information that is unfavorable to them lose any and all credibility. Such tactics are deeply troubling coming from an American president. The second point is just how thin Trump’s skin is. We are just a little over three weeks into his presidency. Part of being a public servant is taking criticism. Trump clearly cannot do that.
Between his rage at the media and his sensitivity to mockery, we could very well be looking at a president who is on the verge of a complete nervous breakdown, and that should scare the hell out of us all.
Featured image via BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP/Getty Image