When it comes to how bad the mainstream press is, nothing surprises me anymore. No matter what the issue, I expect the major players to provide the stupidest, most counterfactual views imaginable. This was demonstrated recently when media outlets continued to parrot Hamas as the legitimate source of casualty figures in Gaza.
Do these “journalists” live in another universe or are they just incredibly dishonest? The answer is probably both, although I’m not sure that even matters. The bad views will continue until morale improves, and then morale will be worn out in all of us.
Appearance of Brian Klaas from The Atlantic with one of the hottest shots of the year.
Trump’s bizarre tirade about sharks is another example of a ridiculous statement that some people ignore because it is so commonplace. @brianklaas writes. But Trump could soon be president. Imagine the reaction if Joe Biden had made the same remarks. https://t.co/3I5pvlCMEM pic.twitter.com/LxBaR1k6v0
— The Atlantic (@TheAtlantic) June 13, 2024
It’s tempting to laugh off these confused tirades. They’re perfectly normal. Trump is Trump. But Trump could soon be President of the United States. Imagine the reaction if Joe Biden had made the same confused remarks word for word. Consider this excerpt:
“I say, ‘What would happen if the boat sank from its weight and you’re in the boat and you have this incredibly powerful battery and the battery is underwater and there’s a shark over there about 10 meters away?’ By the way, there are a lot of shark attacks lately. Do you notice that? A lot of sharks… I saw a couple of guys today justifying it: ‘Well, they weren’t really that angry. They bit the young lady’s leg off because they weren’t hungry, but they didn’t understand who she was.’ These people are crazy.”
I admit I’m not familiar with Trump’s recent comment on sharks, so I looked it up. See the “…” in the above excerpt? That means The Atlantic left out part of the quote. Why did they do that? Because when you read what Trump said in context he was clearly to kid.
“That must be MIT, my relationship with MIT, very clever. I say, ‘What would happen if the boat sank by its weight and you’re in the boat and you have this incredibly powerful battery, and the battery is now underwater and there’s a shark over there about 30 feet away?’ Trump said. “By the way, there are a lot of shark attacks lately. Have you noticed that?”
He described asking the boat manufacturer whether he should be electrocuted or jump near the shark in the hypothetical scenario.
“I would take an electric shock every time,” Trump said. “I’m not going near the shark.”
Trump’s rallies are basically stand-up performances. Whether you find them funny or not is not the point. The point is that when he starts talking about not going near sharks to the laughter of the crowd, it is called a “joke.” He is not Strictly speaking worried about having to choose between getting electrocuted and being eaten by a shark. I’m not one to play Trump interpreter, but come on.
The huge problem with The Atlantic article, however, is not the predictable attacks on the Republican candidate. It is this claim:
On the other hand, if Biden commits a faux pas — mixing up a name or a date instead of, say, saying that boats sink because they’re weighty — then questions arise about his mental fitness to be president. A president who occasionally slips up is far less concerning than one who spreads delusions and conspiracy theories. Biden may commit a faux pas, but he lives in reality; Trump often does not.
“Biden may make gaffes, but he lives in reality,” the article says. I offer the following presentation of the storytime with Bonchie.
In December 2022, Joe Biden appeared in New Castle, Delaware, to speak at an event for veterans. As he walked across the stage, the president told a touching story about awarding his “Uncle Frank” a Purple Heart while serving as vice president. He described an intimate family ceremony at his home where the award was presented for injuries sustained during the Battle of the Bulge.
According to Biden, “Uncle Frank” was so touched by the moment that he said he did not deserve the honor because so many others had died in combat.
The problem? “Uncle Frank” had been dead since 1999.
SEE: Biden makes up a story about being awarded a Purple Heart, and it only gets worse from there
Would Brian Klaas now reconsider the claim that Biden is “living in reality”? Because if not, I have a whole host of other examples to offer. For example, the president has repeatedly lied when an Amtrak conductor supposedly congratulated him when he was vice president for traveling more than a million miles. The conductor in question retired in 1993.
In another instance, Biden once ransacked a room and shouted at a congresswoman to recognize her. Why is that a problem? Because she had died in a car crash a month earlier. But Biden “lives in reality,” according to The Atlantic.
I could go on, but I would sit here all night listing every example of the President making up some random story about his life. Remember “Corn Pop” or his repeated claims that he taught as a professor for four years? The President has also claimed that he was a road warrior during the civil rights movement and that he was once a truck driver. None of this is true.
Whatever you think of Trump and his campaign speeches, trying to claim that he is somehow off track while Biden is firmly on the ground is madness. It means taking all the evidence available and relegating it to the fringes. The fact that Klaas was able to finish his article without feeling much shame says nothing good about him or his medium.
