This installment of The David Pakman Show newsletter is free for everyone. I send these emails daily. If you would also like to receive it, join the newsletter today.
Note: This is totally separate from website Membership and does not affect your website Membership in any way.
OH NO: Trump Accidentally CONFIRMS Story While Trying to Deny It
Donald Trump reportedly wanted the satirical television program Saturday Night Live to be investigated for making fun of him. According to the Vanity Fair and the Daily Beast, in March of 2019, the then-president was furious after watching a rerun of SNL and wanted federal authorities, the FEC, and the FCC to look into whether the program’s portrayals of him violated any existing laws. For years at that point, Trump had had an ongoing feud with Saturday Night Live and the actor who portrayed him, Alec Baldwin. Trump once wrote about Baldwin’s performance on Twitter, “it was also agony for those who were forced to watch. You were terrible. Bring back Darrell Hammond, much funnier and a far greater talent!” And of course, there's a few stories here: One is the incredibly authoritarian perspective on regulating what should and shouldn’t be allowed in media for a country that supposedly has satirical media and a free press. The other part of it is that the ex-president sees himself as a perpetual victim and has the thinnest possible skin.
There’s even a third angle to this story which is about Trump’s inability to convincingly lie about anything. There was probably no need for the former president to respond to this controversy, as it would have gone away in a few days on its own. But Trump managed to prolong the story by confirming some of what was said in the reporting by accident. In a statement released by his office, Trump denied the story happened but then went on to mostly agree with what he was quoted as saying. The post read, “I do believe that the 100% one-sided shows should be considered an illegal campaign contribution from the Democrat Party.” Trump is off-the-wall authoritarian and doesn’t believe in the issues the right claims to care about all of a sudden, like free speech and a free press. But for Trump and his followers, it’s all about whatever serves the moment. In this case, that means being opposed to allowing SNL on the airwaves because the show hurts Trump’s feelings.
Now They're Saying Critical Race Theory is Like the Holocaust
Right-wing media is really getting bent out of shape over critical race theory. The only problem is, they never accurately define the term and always try to tear down a strawman version of it. CRT is an academic movement that seeks to critically examine how we address racial issues and how they intersect with law, criminal justice, history education, and more fields. Some elements of the specifics make a lot of sense, whereas others need to be fleshed out more. But the right tries to label CRT as racist against white people and an attempt to end America as we know it. Case in point, conservative talk show host Michael Savage went on Newsmax this week to talk about critical race theory. With a straight face, he said that CRT is "the road to the death camps” and that “attacks on white people is exactly what was done to the Jews in Germany in the '30s." Savage said the solution was for ordinary people to sue schools for child abuse and that “you will win.” Surely this is over-the-top and hysterical, but that’s commonplace in right-wing media whenever an issue comes up that they believe to be threatening or an affront to their status.
From yesterday’s show:
Trump Wanted to Send Americans with COVID to Guantanamo
There’s an insane new report about the Trump administration’s disastrous handling of the COVID-19 pandemic from the very beginning. In the early months of 2020, Trump reportedly asked if the US could put COVID positive patients at the Guantanamo Bay naval base in Cuba. The former president shocked aides with the suggestion in the situation room. The US famously uses Guantanamo Bay to imprison suspected terrorists and alleged criminals from around the world and has been criticized for its conditions and human rights abuses. Based on the reporting, Trump wanted this policy to apply to both American citizens and foreign nationals. He said “we import goods. We are not going to import a virus.” Trump also complained about the amount of coronavirus testing that was being done, believing he would lose reelection if people knew that cases were out of hand. What Trump didn’t understand is that if he had handled the virus competently, he probably would have won a second term. Instead, Trump bungled the pandemic response at every turn and that’s partially why Joe Biden was able to defeat him.
--More on the show:
--Republicans block debate of a massive voting rights bill, not only opposing the bill itself, but opposing mere discussion about the bill
--Eric Adams and Maya Wiley come in first and second in the New York City mayoral primary, with Andrew Yang finishing fourth
--Leaked documents show that the US government considers socialists "terrorists" alongside neo-Nazis
--Donald Trump's COVID-19 pandemic sabotage is brutally exposed in a new book
--Former Trump confidant Roger Stone implicates the Secret Service in the latest new conspiracy theory about the January 6 Trump riots
--It is revealed that Donald Trump wanted Saturday Night Live investigated for making fun of him
--Completely unhinged voicemail caller reminds us of everything wrong with the United States of America
--On the Bonus Show: Mosquitoes with West Nile virus found in Texas, Morgan Stanley banning unvaccinated workers, Russia wants to send cosmonauts to Chinese space station, much more...
--Become a Supporter: http://www.davidpakman.com/membership