My heart goes out to this Associated Press reporter at the White House today. (Yes, Virginia, I guess they have been allowed back in the room, Gulf Of America dust up and all.) Karoline Leavitt is without question the stupidest press secretary in the history of the job — and Sean Spicer was no particle physicist. Spicer immediately earned his way into an SNL cold open by claiming that Trump’s Inauguration crowd was several times its actual size. And my personal favorite was when Spicer lost an aircraft carrier. How you can lose track of something the size of an aircraft carrier is utterly beyond me, but the first Trump White House managed it.
Now, we have come all the way down to Karoline Leavitt. Kayleigh McEnany was far more educated and hence a more facile liar. Stephanie Grisham held the title of press secretary but never gave a press conference. Interesting way to do a job. Leavitt is just too ignorant and uninformed to be glib and too stupid to hide out. You need more brain power to do that than she’s got. What Leavitt has is a Boebert/Mace/Greene level of nasty defensiveness that passes for assertiveness — or something. Be that as it may, she really fell on her ass today.
Leavitt: Tariffs are a tax hike on foreign countries and a tax cut for the American people
Reporter: Have you ever paid a tariff? I have. They don’t get charged on foreign countries
Leavitt: I think it’s insulting that you are trying test my knowledge on economics pic.twitter.com/usJyrfEZFP
— Acyn (@Acyn) March 11, 2025
I’m sure you must wonder as I do what the end game is here. If/when Trump continues with the Chinese tariffs, then the simple fact is that when MAGAs (and everybody else) go to Walmart to buy moo moos or flip flops, it will cost 25% more.
So how is Trump going to spin that as a good thing? You remember a few days ago when he was in Air Force One and saying how rich we’re all going to get. How does he think people are going to be waiting for cheaper prices and hanging onto more of their money — while they’re paying the inflated prices for goods?
There’s got to be some kind of a game plan here but so far it has eluded our best thinkers. Reality has to catch up at some point. If Trump says China pays 25% on goods, that means Ma and Pa MAGA pay 25% more on goods along with everybody else.
So what is the vast gaslighting scheme here? The best that I can think of is that Trump will cross that bridge when he comes to it by saying this is the “temporary hardship” and soon, very soon, the days of milk and honey will be here. In fact, it’s going to be a lot more like the days of wine and roses, in terms of utter disillusionment and destruction. He’s doing that already with the stock market. The stock market falling is no biggy, he keeps assuring us, as retirement funds shrink daily.
The only other thought I have is that Trump really doesn’t give a damn how MAGA or anybody else reacts because he figures that by the time he and Elon pillage the government and silence all their detractors, that they’ll have so much power, and all the money, that they’ll be untouchable. And so who cares if people are angry and disillusioned?
Maybe Trump should review what happened to Mussolini for having exactly the same kind of indifference towards his people. I don’t know if it could ever come to that in America. I would hope not. But then again, how many things have we already seen come to pass that we didn’t think could happen in America already?
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That’s a good point about Mussolini.
His demise was neither dignified or painless.
On the other hand, Trump’s supporters have already expressed a liking for impromptu gallows, so I guess we have to go with precedent and a new tradition.
Undignified and painful would certainly be much more in keeping with the main values his presidency displayed
You’ve got it in one: Trump & Musk are planning to steal so much money and take so much illegal power that they’ll be untouchable. Where did they get that notion, you say? Directly from Vlad the Corruptor over in Moscow. That’s precisely what he did as he rose to the highest political office, creating an immensely profitable kleptocracy for himself and a select oligarchy who have robbed the nation blind and destroyed all opposition while doing so. Trump and Musk plan to turn the USA into Putin’s Russia, with the willing help of the oligarchy they’re creating right before our disbelieving eyes.
“So.who cares if people are angry and disillusioned?”
Even better, ask.Marie Antoinette and LouisXVI.
“So.who cares if people are angry and disillusioned?”
Even better, ask.Marie Antoinette and LouisXVI.