Only in Trump world do outright lies equate to "PR spin". What's frightening is than so many Republicans believe the lies - which is part and parcel with the dumbing down of Republican voters and explains why the GOP is having increasing difficulty retaining college educated voters from key suburban districts. At some point, those who recognize the unending parade of lies just can't continue to hold their noses and vote Republican. The lying has gone on for years now, but Der Trumpenfurher has taken lying to height heretofore unimaginable in American politics and reminiscent of the lies one saw in Nazi German, China under Mao, or during the darkest days of the former Soviet Union. Amazingly, Trump consigliere, Rudi Giuliani - who was booted by his law firm due to his outrageous and untrue statements - admitted on national TV that Trump's "spygate" myth is all a lie and is "PR" aimed at anticipated moves to impeach Trump as the Mueller investigation exposes the behavior of Trump and his minions - and hopefully Mike Pence - during the 2016 presidential campaign and since. New York Magazine looks at Giuliani's more or less admission that Trump's defenders are knowingly lying:
Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani confirmed on Sunday that the president and his allies’ attempts to discredit the Mueller investigation — including the most recent so-called ‘Spygate’ controversy — are part of a public relations campaign aimed at staving off impeachment. “It is for public opinion,” the former New York mayor admitted during an appearance on CNN’s State of the Union. And while trying to shape public opinion is the rarely acknowledged goal of any presidential administration, what Giuliani said next was unique to Trump’s: “Because eventually the decision here is going to be impeach or not impeach.”Giuliani’s comment came amid pressure from host Dana Bash to acknowledge that he and Trump were using a “very specific, very political strategy to undermine [the Mueller] investigation,” highlighting how a recent poll revealed a 15 percent drop in the number of Republicans who wanted Trump to testify in the probe. Bash and Giuliani had already talked about the unfounded “Spygate” allegation by Trump and his allies that the FBI had installed a spy in the Trump campaign to set up for collusion charges. (The FBI had actually warned Trump that Russia was trying to infiltrate his campaign.)
Asked to confirm that these efforts to discredit the Mueller probe were just a political tactic, Giuliani first demurred, . . . . Then Bash specifically cited the ‘Spygate’ claims and how no evidence had been offered to support them, and noted to Giuliani that he was both an experienced politician and a lawyer who clearly understood that the Trump team could feel free to attack the Russia investigation, since Mueller and his team would not be able to publicly defend themselves.
The whole interview was a ranging, befuddled affair, as most of Giuliani’s media appearances now tend to be regardless of how much oversharing he does.
Before acknowledging the PR angle, Giuliani clearly tried to reference ‘Spygate’ as much as possible, using the word six times, and acting as though he was astonished by the allegations. He also tried to repeat Trump’s lie that former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper has admitted the FBI placed a spy in the Trump campaign — which Bash corrected him on.
He also suggested the Justice Department’s indictment of 13 Russian nationals for meddling in the 2016 presidential election was “phony” and was only meant to impress the media.
No comments:
Post a Comment