Again: Why isn’t the media reporting on Trump’s worsening dementia?
Over the weekend, on his Truth Social, Trump shared a video purporting to be a segment on Fox News — it wasn’t — in which an AI-generated, deepfaked version of himself sat in the White House and promised that “every American will soon receive their own MedBed card” that will grant them access to new “MedBed hospitals.”
What?
Believers in the “MedBed” conspiracy theory think certain
hospital beds are loaded with futuristic technology that can reverse any
disease, regenerate limbs, and de-age people. No one has an actual photo of
these beds because they don’t exist.
Trump also posted (again,
without any basis in fact) that the FBI “secretly placed … 274 FBI Agents into
the Crowd just prior to, and during” the January 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol,
during which they were “probably acting as Agitators and Insurrectionists.”
Trump added that this “is different from what Director
Christopher Wray stated, over and over again!” and went on: “Christopher Wray,
the then Director of the FBI, has some major explaining to do. That’s two in a
row, Comey and Wray, who got caught LYING.”
In fact, the Department of Justice’s inspector general
reported that there were no undercover FBI agents at the January 6 riots. (FBI
Director Kash Patel confirmed that
the few FBI agents present on January 6 were there on “a crowd control
mission after the riot was declared.”)
Trump also announced Saturday that he intends to send the
U.S. military to Portland, Oregon, authorizing “Full Force, if necessary” to
“protect War ravaged Portland, and any of our ICE Facilities under siege from
attack by Antifa, and other domestic terrorists.”
Hello? Although protesters have been camping on the sidewalks outside the ICE office for months, the demonstration has dwindled to almost nothing. Of the 29 related arrests, 22 happened on or before July 4, when the protests were at their peak.
What’s been the media’s response to Trump’s bonkers postings
and announcements this weekend? Nada. The media either ignored them, mentioned
them as part of Trump’s “strategy,” or assumed Trump was just being Trump.
But there’s another explanation.
Trump is showing growing signs of dementia. He’s
increasingly unhinged. He’s 79 years old with a family
history of dementia. He could well be going nuts.
You might think this would be covered in the news, but he
isn’t facing anything like the scrutiny for dementia that Joe Biden did.
The paranoia was becoming evident in the lead-up to the 2024
presidential election. On November 11, 2023, he pledged to a crowd of
supporters in Claremont, New Hampshire, that:
“We will root out the communists, Marxists, fascists and the
radical left thugs that live like vermin within the confines of our country,
that lie and steal and cheat on elections and will do anything possible —
they’ll do anything, whether legally or illegally, to destroy America and to
destroy the American dream.”
Most media commentators chalked this up to overheated
campaign rhetoric.
But since occupying the Oval Office, Trump has demanded that
his attorney general target political opponents, urged the head of his FCC to
threaten a major network for allowing a late-night comedian to say things Trump
disliked, suggested that the government revoke TV licenses of network
broadcasters that allow criticism of him, and pulled government security
clearances from former officials whom he deems his enemies.
Less than two weeks ago, he demanded that the Justice
Department prosecute a handful of named political opponents “now!” — including
James Comey, whom Trump fired from his post in 2017 after Comey oversaw the
FBI’s investigation into alleged Russian
interference in the 2016 election; Letitia James, the attorney general
of New York, who indicted Trump; and Adam Schiff, U.S. senator from California,
who played an active role in the House hearings on January 6, 2021.
On September 19, Erik Siebert, the acting U.S. attorney for
the Eastern District of Virginia (initially selected for the position by Trump)
resigned after Trump told reporters “I want him out.”
Siebert had
concerns about the strength of the evidence against both Comey and
James.
He said he was promoting Lindsey Halligan, one of his former
personal attorneys, to take Siebert’s place, and fumed: “We can’t delay any
longer, it’s killing our reputation and credibility. They impeached me twice,
and indicted me (5 times!), OVER NOTHING. JUSTICE MUST BE SERVED, NOW!!!”
On September 22, three days after Halligan assumed office,
she secured a simple, two-count indictment against Comey for allegedly lying to
Congress and for allegedly obstructing justice.
This advertiser seems to be the only one
Trump's "Truth Social" has. Their ad runs before
and after almost every Trump post. I could be
mistaken but it looks a lot like
the Flying Spaghetti Monster.
“JUSTICE IN AMERICA! One of the worst human beings this
Country has ever been exposed to is James Comey,” Trump exalted
on social media following the indictment. “He has been so bad for our Country,
for so long, and is now at the beginning of being held responsible for his
crimes against our Nation.”
The Comey indictment was a blip in the weekly news cycle.
The media appeared to shrug: Yes, of course Trump is vindictive, so what else
is new?
But wait. Are his acts those of a sane person? Or of an
aging paranoid megalomaniac?
Even if it’s unclear to which category Trump belongs,
shouldn’t this question be central to the coverage of his presidency? At the
very least, shouldn’t the media be actively investigating?
***
PS: Gentle reminders: You can find my new book, Coming Up Short, at your local bookstore or order through bookshop.org, which supports local bookstores. You can get the audiobook here.
