Dana Bash Presidentifies Donald Trump: 'He's Being The Leader People Yearn For'

By Karoli Kuns — March 17, 2020

CNN anchor Dana Bash had the audacity to say this after Trump's press conference where he and his staff lied very specifically about very specific things:

"If you look at the big picture, this was remarkable from the President of the United States. This was a nonpartisan --This is an important thing to note and to applaud from an American standpoint, and from an human standpoint he is being the kind of leader that people need, at least in tone, today and yesterday. In tone, the kind of leader that people need and want and yearn for in times of crisis and uncertainty."

My first reaction was a simple WTF is she actually talking about? The fact that he didn't rage and scream in a press conference is a pretty low bar. But honestly, it's worse, because lying in a low tone is still lying, as I wrote here and Joy Reid stated pretty clearly in a real-time tweet:

My God... Trump ends his press conference by saying no offer was made to the U.S. to have the WHO-certified test, says any such news of that is fake, and then adds that the WHO test -- the GOLD STANDARD TEST FOR COVID19 is a "bad test." This is straight-up gaslighting propaganda.

— Joy Reid (@JoyAnnReid) March 17, 2020

Make no mistake: The reason we are in this mess and our economy is grinding to a screeching halt is because Donald Trump could not bear the responsibility for a pandemic on his watch and chose to deny it instead. He thought he could just ban entry from China and fix everything. So while other countries were testing as though their very lives depended on it (which they did), Donald Trump was fiddling while the U.S. burned.

Now he lies in a calm tone and Dana Bash immediately Presidentifies him; that is, tries to shove him into the "this is the day he became president" box IN THE LAST YEAR OF HIS SINGLE TERM.

It's infuriating. It's destructive.

Here's some examples of "the leader people need" just for Dana. That tone is especially special, and these were posted TODAY:

Failing Michigan Governor must work harder and be much more proactive. We are pushing her to get the job done. I stand with Michigan!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 17, 2020

Cuomo wants “all states to be treated the same.” But all states aren’t the same. Some are being hit hard by the Chinese Virus, some are being hit practically not at all. New York is a very big “hotspot”, West Virginia has, thus far, zero cases. Andrew, keep politics out of it....

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 17, 2020

It isn't just Dana Bash who is working hard at Presidentification:

Donald Trump’s tone is good right now. His guidelines should be followed. For the first time in this crisis, he is addressing this pandemic in a measured way.
He even admitted the pandemic is not under control anywhere in the world. This is a needed change.

— Joe Scarborough (@JoeNBC) March 16, 2020

Well, the fact that he didn't rub feces on his face is good, but again, it's hardly presidential. Yesterday was the day he awarded himself a 10 for ignoring the crisis and deciding not to go with the WHO tests so he could brand one as his very own. Yet this is what we get from press, who are apparently willing to overlook lies like this:

"I've always known this is a real pandemic" and a "very serious" threat, he says today. But... pic.twitter.com/ok0t5GbXsf

— Jeff (@jwilson_detroit) March 17, 2020

Do better, media. Our lives depend on you.

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