SECONDNEXUS
percolately
georgetakei
comicsands
George's Reads
NBC News' First Read—their daily breaking news summary—made note of something that prior to January 2017 would have been considered a major development. Now, not so much.
What was this paradigm shift?
Three scandals from the administration of President Donald Trump all broke on Tuesday:
- Trump reportedly asked acting Attorney General Matt Whitaker to ensure a Trump ally was in charge of the Michael Cohen investigation
- Trump administration insiders "told a congressional committee that efforts by former national security adviser Michael Flynn to transfer sensitive nuclear technology to Saudi Arabia may have violated the law, and investigators fear Trump is still considering it"
- Reports surfaced House and Senate Democrats "obtained evidence that a senior official at the Department of Education tried to oust the department’s independent watchdog after she pushed back on an attempt to interfere in an active investigation of Secretary Betsy DeVos"
But investigations, resignations and firings under clouds of scandal, charges of ethics violations and indictments are so commonplace in the Trump administration that three new ones seemed like a normal day.
In today's @NBCFirstRead: https://t.co/XVm1t9cFJ6 https://t.co/JVldpHb6CW— NBC News (@NBC News) 1550672943.0
NBC called the Trump administration "ethically challenged."
According to NBC:
"Any one of these stories would have dominated the news — for days and weeks — in any other administration. But in our current era, it was just Tuesday."
And people noticed the new normal.
From NBC's First Read - It's just Tuesday. https://t.co/zQ9CP1Ef2h— Jesse Ferguson (@Jesse Ferguson) 1550670780.0
@NBCNews @NBCFirstRead It is hard to keep up with Trump scandals. As usual, Trump's response is to attack the messager— rmc (@rmc) 1550673070.0
@NBCNews @NBCFirstRead would someone please end this nightmare legally I feel we slowly bleeding to death— Jamie Parris (@Jamie Parris) 1550677667.0
@NBCNews @NBCFirstRead DOJ needs to investigate. FBI should question Justice Thomas for determination on whether Da… https://t.co/eO98uzeYS7— David Louis Whitehea (@David Louis Whitehea) 1550675809.0
@NBCNews @NBCFirstRead The entire Trump administration is as corrupt as they come. No ifs, ands, or buts about it.— Ken Finch (@Ken Finch) 1550674430.0
Although the Trump administration line of defense against all such stories—even those that go from alleged to confirmed—seems to be paying dividends.
While a new Trump administration scandal is an expected almost daily occurrence, his ardent followers' claims of fake news are equally predictable.
@NBCNews @NBCFirstRead First line: "It's hard to keep up with all the alleged scandals..." 😂 Keyword: alleged… https://t.co/QIhDsisFFN— Dave Dunn 🇺🇸 (@Dave Dunn 🇺🇸) 1550673062.0
Trump's own reaction to at least one of the scandals was to attack the messenger: The New York Times.
The New York Times reporting is false. They are a true ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE!— Donald J. Trump (@Donald J. Trump) 1550670553.0
But unlike the President's core supporters, most people found his response troublesome.
@realDonaldTrump Trump, when you speak this way, you incite violence. We have already seen a mail bomber and templ… https://t.co/vYuLBB3wZ5— Fred Guttenberg (@Fred Guttenberg) 1550682530.0
@realDonaldTrump Trump constantly yells the slogan “ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE!” like a communist or fascist dictator abou… https://t.co/wW6VvNAmIw— Eugene Gu, MD (@Eugene Gu, MD) 1550670715.0
@realDonaldTrump Maybe this is something Vladimir Putin learned from Joseph Stalin who then taught it to Donald J. Trump.— Eugene Gu, MD (@Eugene Gu, MD) 1550670807.0
@realDonaldTrump For those of you who are curious, this is the New York Times report that is making Trump nearly bl… https://t.co/fsc7iqgwun— Eugene Gu, MD (@Eugene Gu, MD) 1550670979.0
NBC provided additional coverage on each story, but felt they also needed to make a statement about the new normal.