Tag: Trump toxicity

Even amid recession warning, 2020 will hinge on the culture war

Washington Post logoIt is often argued by those on the left that Democratic candidates are proposing ideas that would actually better serve the working-class and middle-class Americans who are backing President Trump. But this argument assumes that it is the president’s economic policies that draw his supporters to him. Data doesn’t suggest that was the case in 2016. And that idea will be put to the test as Trump heads into 2020 facing uncertainties about the economy.

“It’s the economy, stupid” is a popular saying in political circles, intended to suggest that Americans vote based on how well the economy is doing. And part of the 2016 narrative suggested that was true. Economic anxiety was regularly touted as one of the main reasons Trump supporters chose him over Hillary Clinton.

As a result, Trump regularly points to what many economists have labeled a good economy when trying to convince voters that they are doing much better under his administration than they were before his election.

View the complete August 15 article by Eugene Scott on The Washington Post website here.

Trump’s unpopularity puts his presidency at risk — and he would ‘go to war with the world’ to keep it

AlterNet logoDonald Trump’s electoral college victory in the 2016 presidential race changed the way we talk about politics in at least two fundamental ways. The first is demonstrated by recent events in which the president retweeted a conspiracy theory and then defended himself by claiming that the person spreading it was a “respected conservative pundit.”

In the past, most of us would have found people like that conspiracy theorist to be laughable. But now we are forced to take them seriously because the man who occupies the Oval Office does. In that video clip, Trump goes on to talk about how the attorney general is investigating the matter. As we’ve all seen, Bill Barr is no stranger to conspiracy theories, so things like this are no longer a laughing matter.

In the past, most of us would have found people like that conspiracy theorist to be laughable. But now we are forced to take them seriously because the man who occupies the Oval Office does. In that video clip, Trump goes on to talk about how the attorney general is investigating the matter. As we’ve all seen, Bill Barr is no stranger to conspiracy theories, so things like this are no longer a laughing matter.

View the complete August 14 article by Nancy LeTourneau from The Washington Monthly on the AlterNet website here.

The Memo: Toxic 2020 is unavoidable conclusion from Trump tweets

The Hill logoThe 2020 election will likely be the most toxic in living memory.

That’s the unavoidable conclusion after President Trump on Monday defended his tweets the previous day in which he urged four nonwhite congresswomen to “go back” to where they came from.

All four are American citizens, and all bar one was born in the United States.

Some Republicans backed away from Trump in the resulting firestorm, but most stood by him.

View the complete July 16 article by Niall Stanage on The Hill website here.