Stop Trump's Daily Coronavirus Live Briefing!
Ad Nauseum
Can the media withstand the urge to broadcast anything live POTUS briefing on the coronavirus? Probably not. Would they be derelict in their journalism 101 mantra in doing so?
Seriously, after about 30 minutes or so, much of the newsworthy elements in whatever Trump has to say has been given. The rest of the dialogue usually is mundane beyond belief with his narcissist view of himself. Occasionally, some real truths appear but then countered by just lies to feed his base idiots about how it is time to "open up America", despite rising death rates from it in the very states reopening!
But, Trump is shrewd. He is using this live TV show that runs over an hour to run for president again, attempting to show his voters how well he has handled it so far after numerous missteps starting in January. In terms of coverage, he has had about $2 billion dollars worth of free coverage. This dwarfs both Republican and Democratic coverage of $10 million. This is not the first time Trump used media. In 2016, he knew he was the hottest topic and name to cover in the election and the media, both left and right, were complicit in promoting Trump via coverage in the news then. Anything "Trump" got a spotlight. It became an instant news generator for revenue and still does.
So, now in 2020, with the COVID-19 pandemic, Trump is using it as a podium for his re-election campaign incognito. And again, the media is complicit! They carry the whole wretched affair and bravado show every night in prime time making Biden, his foe, a dwarf. Trump allows limited time for his true health professionals that still refuse to challenge him with facts and a VP that praises him like a God. So, sickening.
Are the ratings for this nightly briefing that good? Trump is soaking the virus for all it is worth in terms of political coverage since we are in a presidential election this fall. Of course, it all could turn badly for Trump, depending on what the virus does and how his administration handles it. I must say that the most entertaining aspect of the briefings are not his lies, or half-truths, his praise for himself, but his question and answer session with about six reporters. Especially, the ones he thinks are fake news outlets. I really like it when the reporters press Trump into a corner and fire back the same BS Trump fires at them. It is a rare phenomenon, though.
For me, after the first 30 minutes of it, I am done. I can handle only so much of his nonsense because Trump continually repeats the same mantra about how great he is and how great he is for America.
The news media should limit coverage to 30 minutes.
