<
https://theconversation.com/the-media-has-made-donald-trump-look-more-coherent-than-he-is-its-called-sanewashing-289616>
"On September 5 2024, after giving a speech about his economic plans for the
United States, Donald Trump was asked what he would do, if re-elected
president, to make childcare more affordable.
Trump then offered a nonsensical, 374-word response:
well, I would do that, and we’re sitting down – you know, I was somebody –
we had Senator Marco Rubio, and my daughter, Ivanka, was so impactful on
that issue. It’s a very important issue. But I think when you talk about the
kind of numbers that I’m talking about – because, look, childcare is
childcare. It’s something – you have to have it. In this country, you have
to have it. But when you talk about those numbers compared to the kind of
numbers that I’m talking about by taxing foreign nations at levels that
they’re not used to – but they’ll get used to it very quickly. And it’s not
going to stop them from doing business with us, but they’ll have a very
substantial tax when they send product into our country […]
Trump’s answer (or lack thereof) showed he had almost certainly not given the
important topic any serious prior thought. His response also provided valuable
insights into the scattered state of his own mind.
Yet, many of the subsequent news stories didn’t pay any attention to this
massive fumble, and instead reported earnestly on the policy ideas put forward
in the scripted parts of his speech.
The
New York Times’ article about the event, for example, was headlined
“Trump calls for an efficiency commission, an idea pushed by Elon Musk”.
It made reference to his “jumbled and meandering answer” only once, and not
until the 24th paragraph.
For many frustrated observers, this was a prime example of what had come to be
known as “sanewashing”."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
