On this day in 2017, the actor and singer Alyssa Milano posted, “If you’ve been sexually harassed or assaulted write ‘me too’ as a reply to this tweet.” The message triggered the #MeToo movement, bringing powerful men to account – if not self-confessed sexual assaulter and adjudicated sexual abuser Donald Trump.
Good morning. Andrew here, thinking yet again about how the only apparent bulwarks in this country against Donald Trump’s increasingly fascist presidency are his insistence on maintaining his failed war in Iran and wrecking the global economy, and his absolute refusal to stop bragging about how great things are.
Yes, he even needs to brag about high gas prices, rubbing it in Americans’ faces.
In today’s ‘First Draft,’ the president once again demonstrates he is America’s most out-of-touch billionaire, while also clarifying his willingness to discard law and convention to go after enemies and targets for his hate, in the continued hounding of Ilhan Omar. Let’s read in.
‘Isn’t It Terrible?’
There was a wave of brutal economic news on Wednesday, the result of Donald Trump’s illegal, pointless, failed, unending war with Iran.
Inflation is surging, as gasoline and fuel prices spike. Americans’ real weekly earnings fell year-over-year, for the sixth month in a row. Home-buying has fallen to its lowest level since the aftermath of the 2009 housing crash.
Even CNBC’s Jim Cramer understands why ordinary Americans are fed up and feeling left out. Looking at the real wage data, the hyper-capitalist blowhard said: “Look, rich people are making a lot of money. God, I sound like Marx. I really don’t want to sound like Marx. It’s just, I’m looking at the data.”
There was no such awareness from the president, of course. He responded to the news by bragging… that gas prices are so high.
“I never say this because – and watch, they’ll cut all of this stuff out,” he began, before saying the exact thing he knew he shouldn’t. “Our country is making more money than it’s ever made because of the fact that oil is so high.”
Trump was speaking to supporters at a rally in Arizona. He wasn’t done.
“Now, they’re going to say: Isn’t it terrible? He talked about the fact that he doesn’t care about the little person… I care more about the little person than I care about the big person. I care about the little person like crazy,” he lied. “But the fact is, because of the price of oil, Texas and Oklahoma and North Dakota and all these places, we’re making a fortune.”
The MAGA crowd didn’t react. How didn’t they groan? That wasn’t all Trump had to say about gas prices, either.