What a Little Brat
Trump bullies an Asian American reporter from CBS with racist taunting. A CNN reporter slightly nudges the Asian American CBS reporter to defend herself. Trump didn't like it.
Oh no. Two more 'nasty women' are in the White House presidential press pool. You can see how the exchange played out below. Trump tried to deflect a question by CBS reporter Weijia Jiang by telling her to ask her question to China instead of him.
Maybe Trump thought he made the remark subtle enough to be a dog whistle. But make no mistake we all hear it now. He's testing the limits of what he can get away with as all narcissists and toddlers do. And the tag team between CBS' Weijia Jiang and CNN's Kaitlin Collins is nothing short of an example of millennial 21st century courage in a White House that has descended back in time to a corrupt imperial palace.
When former Vice President Joe Biden says America cannot survive another term of Donald Trump, he wasn't being clear. It would take too long to explain because many Americans are lucky enough not to have seen how a society slides into tyranny and cements itself there until there's a truly violent revolution. But for recent U.S. immigrants escaping regimes, what happened here is a huge red flag. Senator Elizabeth Warren is also trying to turn our attention this way by saying Trump is the most corrupt president in history. However, if you've not gone through it directly, you need some examples.
Reporter Weijia Jiang sends a little shade but for how long?
Here's how this scene would play out under the next Trump Administration (and how it already looks under dictatorial nations.)
Focus not on Donald Trump. He's already doing his job as the dictator. Turn to the rest of the press corps. Fast forward to 4 more years of Trump. Even if a 'nasty' reporter like Jiang would be able to eke out this question that enraged Trump, the rest of the press corps full of his cronies and opportunistic collaborators would shame her. Yes, that's the real horror. He would have weeded out the 'non-cooperative' journalists. Then the B-team of narcissistic reporters who would do anything for a king that offers spoils would step right into the seats and do the bullying for him.
The reporter we take for granted today would become an isolated Bambi. After being shunned by her colleagues, she'd be scolded by her editors who would have received an angry call from the White House that they'd have to pay for in the form of another favor. Pretty soon she'd be gone. Or she'd learn to sit pretty next time and go along to get along so that she can pay her mortgage. (I've witnessed it firsthand here in Korea.)
Already you can see we're in the stages of grooming a press corps Trump can manipulate. Look at the language the reporters are forcing themselves to use to make sure they don't lose the favor of the 'king' in the Rose Garden. How many 'sirs' can you fit into a sentence and how hard can you hold your tongue? Fortunately for the American public, these reporters still have to answer to the greater king of their editorial boards and the bottom line of their news organizations. But once he can tip the scales in his favor, these press conferences may eventually look like a Mitch McConnell led Republican Senate pow-wow.
DEFENDING AMERICAN VALUES BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE
Applaud these two journalists who stood up for themselves and the American people. Notice how polite they were (I'm looking especially at you millennial bashers). Yet, also notice the strength in their gif-ready facial expressions that said what they couldn't. Four more years of Trump and even the looks on their faces will be self-censored. 'Off with their head!' Do you really want to live in a world where you have to watch everything you say and control how your face twitches while talking to a little brat and his cronies?