Is Donald Trump that clever, or are the media still just that unprepared? Whatever the reason, he continues to be just as adept as ever at running circles around the press and public.

One of his most effective tools is what we might call the Trump Two-Step, in which the former president says something outrageous, backs away from it in the face of criticism, and then fully embraces it. The goal here is to create a veneer of deniability. It doesn’t even need to be plausible; it just needs to muddy the waters a bit.

That pattern is clear in his recent invocations of a “bloodbath” if he doesn’t win the 2024 presidential election. During a March 16 speech in Ohio, Trump blasted President Joe Biden’s push for electric vehicles. (Trump is angry that the United Auto Workers endorsed Biden, who walked on a picket line with striking employees, rather than Trump, who held a rally at a nonunion shop.) It’s difficult to capture the full context of Trump’s remarks because he meanders so much, but he was speaking about the auto industry when he warned about a “bloodbath.” …

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  • Sanctus@lemmy.world
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    2 months ago

    Fuck you, Trump. Anyone else threatening this shit would be jailed. Its ridiculous he gets to blast that shit with this much influence and power.

    • disguy_ovahea@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      As bad as he is, the irresponsibility of the media is worse. As long as they continue to selectively report, there will be more Trumps to follow.

      • Sanctus@lemmy.world
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        2 months ago

        This all starts at education and your environment growing up. He who is given much requires much was not dig at the poor, but silver spoon babies. There will be more shit heads like him as long as the rich aren’t taxed at 90%. We allowed this Hydra to grow.

  • Dagwood222@lemm.ee
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    2 months ago

    The mistake the media makes is treating him like a sane adult.

    Trump lies like a child does; he’s not really grounded in any reality, so he really does believe whatever comes out of his mouth.

    • GladiusB@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      I think you are giving him too much credit. He believes he is smarter than everyone else and can will whatever he says into reality because no one is ever as good as he is.

    • rmuk@feddit.uk
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      2 months ago

      Daddy Putin taught him well.

      If you can find it, take a look at “Oh Dearism Part II” by Adam Curtis.

      • disguy_ovahea@lemmy.world
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        2 months ago

        Putin does it with his puppet. Medvedev makes an outrageous threat, like nuking the UK, only to make Putin seem “moderate” by merely ceasing exports.

  • UltraMagnus0001@lemmy.world
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    2 months ago

    newspeak, propagandistic language that is characterized by euphemism, circumlocution, and the inversion of customary meanings. The term was coined by George Orwell in his novel Nineteen Eighty-four (1949).