On the same day that he imposed pointless, economically destructive steel and aluminum tariffs on our closest allies and announced a pardon for a convicted criminal who mocked Parkland survivors, President Trump also decided to continue his utterly pointless defense of racist Roseanne Barr, perhaps in an effort to distract from the indefensibility of the first two acts.
Over the weekend, Barr said that Valerie Jarrett, a former Obama official, looked like the “Muslim brotherhood & planet of the apes had a baby.”
Not surprisingly, the stunningly offensive tweet quickly went viral which prompted ABC to immediately cancel her hit show. In response to the decision to end Roseanne Bob Iger — the CEO of Disney of which ABC is but one division — tweeted out his support of ABC‘s announcement, calling it the “right thing to do.” In response, Trump decided to offer an oblique endorsement of Barr’s racism by going after Iger for supporting her termination.
Bob Iger of ABC called Valerie Jarrett to let her know that “ABC does not tolerate comments like those” made by Roseanne Barr. Gee, he never called President Donald J. Trump to apologize for the HORRIBLE statements made and said about me on ABC. Maybe I just didn’t get the call?
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 30, 2018
Now, Trump has doubled down on his attacks. He tweeted this morning that Iger still owes him an apology call, claiming that Iger and ABC have “offended millions of people, and they demand a response.”
The irony of a man who has repeatedly insulted immigrants, Muslims, and nonwhite people in general on top of being the subject of numerous sexual assault and rape allegations while never once offering an apology himself is a reminder that we are now living in a political landscape of pure farce. Trump’s tweet is the Platonic embodiment of acting in bad faith.
Trump also brought up investigative reporter Brian Ross, who was suspended from ABC after botching a story about disgraced former National Security Advisor and convicted criminal Michael Flynn by misreporting the facts which, by many accounts, was simply an honest mistake. ABC took appropriate action by suspending Ross and issued a retraction and correction like any reputable news agency would.
Iger, where is my call of apology? You and ABC have offended millions of people, and they demand a response. How is Brian Ross doing? He tanked the market with an ABC lie, yet no apology. Double Standard!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 31, 2018
On top of the suspension and contrary to Trump’s lie, ABC did offer an apology.
“We deeply regret and apologize for the serious error we made yesterday. The reporting conveyed by Brian Ross during the special report had not been fully vetted through our editorial standards process. As a result of our continued reporting over the next several hours ultimately we determined the information was wrong and we corrected the mistake on air and online,” ABC said in a statement.
Trump, on the other hand, hasn’t apologized once for habitually spreading fake news or creating the racist birther movement which falsely claimed that our first black president wasn’t born in the United States. Trump is a disingenuous lying hack and at this point, no one of sound mind should be taking his tweets at face value.
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