“Disaster”
“War zone.”
“Carnage in American cities.”
The descriptions of events in Portland, Ore., were emblazoned this week across scenes of mayhem playing in a loop on Fox News and pumped out by right-wing influencers on social media. The dystopian portrait has turned the liberal city into a test case for President Trump’s latest performance of “law and order” — the catchphrase he is making a focal point of his flagging reelection campaign by portraying Democrats as presiding over urban battle zones in which demonstrators are desecrating federal property. Continue reading.