Thursday on MSNBC, Steve Schmidt, John McCain’s 2008 presidential campaign manager, described President Donald Trump’s supporters as “a cult of personality” that mindlessly cheer the president talking about drinking water.
Host Brian Williams said, “I caught an article yesterday, the gist of which is that American passports are useless right now. Let’s ignore for the moment that the pandemic has made travel unreachable, impossible, and unpalatable for most people. If you wanted to, if you had the means or perhaps the urgency, a mission to travel the world, we are allowed as Americans into Turkey, Tanzania and Mexico. Europe is cut off for us. We can’t drive north into the Canadian side of Niagara Falls. We have become pariahs because of our spike.”
Schmidt said, “All of those countries share something in common, the ones that want to keep Americans out. They’re governed by responsible leaders by and large. You can’t allow Americans into the country right now because of the coronavirus threat. There’s a sign that has taken off in London apparently that’s all over the sidewalks. It says ‘Americans must be accompanied by an adult.’ We’re a national laughing stock. The president is a national laughing stock. When you ponder that the richest and most powerful country in the world, the country with the world’s leading research universities, the most advanced math and science country in the world, that we’ve brought low by conspiracy theorists on a cable news network, by talk radio hosts, by internet trolls, by a president who refuses to read and do his homework, refuses to listen to medical experts, only cares about himself, not the American people, cares only about his re-election. ”
He continued, “The American people have been gaslighted, lied to. We have 35% of the country that’s decided to join a cult of personality. When you look at that Tulsa rally, and you see those people there — I wish these people no ill. I want them to be successful and happy and for their families to be safe. I don’t want to be ruled under them. The foolishness of the mindless cheering for someone as they described their walk down the narrow and shallow West Point ramp or their talent at drinking water with two hands, it’s just madness.”
He added, “111 days from now, the American people are the last line of defense for the country. As George Will pointed out in an important column in “The Washington Post,” this is what national decline looks like. This is what a spin to the ground looks like. We are out of control as a country. There was a real lack of imagination on the part of the American people four years ago about the capacity for someone like Donald Trump to cause real tragedy. We should all be woken up now. We should be paying attention. This man must be defeated if there’s to be any chance to come out of this. Otherwise, the country will be in an irreversible decline. The America that was will be no more. We’ll be a rich country. We’ll be a powerful country, but we won’t be the preeminent country in the world anymore. That’s the result of Donald Trump being the 45th president of the United States.”
Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN
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