First thing this morning, the big news was that Matt Lauer was fired for sexual misconduct. Some were shocked; others were absolutely not surprised.
And then, of course, there was Donald Trump’s response — to use this to try to deflect more attention from himself and his policies onto the people he regards as his enemies. By which we mean, you know, journalists and talk show hosts.
Bewilderingly, Trump decided to bash his former friend, Joe Scarborough, by suggesting that he might be a murderer.
We really wish that we were making this up, folks.
So, Matt Lauer has been fired for assault by NBC.
Interestingly, though Lauer famously softballed Trump in an interview while grilling Hillary Clinton over “transparency issues” regarding her emails in a parallel interview (and thus helped pave the way for Twilight Zone episode that is 2017), Trump’s response has been delight.
The orange-in-chief tweeted this:
“Wow, Matt Lauer was just fired from NBC for ‘inappropriate sexual behavior in the workplace.’ But when will the top executives at NBC & Comcast be fired for putting out so much Fake News. Check out Andy Lack’s past!”
So, basically, he’s happy about anyone being fired from any news network that has even a modicum of journalistic integrity.
He’s throwing out his usual “Fake News” jargon, which normally just makes the world roll its eyes because, well, it’s the equivalent of a preschooler saying “I know you are but what am I” because they’re angry but don’t know how to argue.
Trump followed it up with something of a massive escalation, however.
And though he repeats himself a little, this tweet is even worse:
That reads:
“So now that Matt Lauer is gone when will the Fake News practitioners at NBC be terminating the contract of Phil Griffin? And will they terminate low ratings Joe Scarborough based on the ‘unsolved mystery’ that took place in Florida years ago? Investigate!”
In addition to being an embarrassing display of insecurities and conduct unbecoming of the Office of the Presidency, that tweet appears to be an accusation of murder.
Because, back in 2001, when Joe Scarborough was still a congressman in Florida, an intern named Lori Klausutis was found dead in his congressional district office.
Specifically, then 28-year-old Klausutis was found behind a desk in that office by two visitors.
Now, not only was there zero evidence that Joe Scarborough was involved in her death, but the autopsy results showed that Klausutis had been feeling unwell before her death and that she also suffered heart problems.
It is believed that those heart troubles caused her to fall and hit her head, with tragic and lethal consequences.
There was zero sign of foul play.
Before anyone suggests that perhaps Joe Scarborough at least had a motive — maybe he wanted to retain his seat in congress, and she knew something incriminating?
(Or, even more boring, they’d had an affair?)
That fits narratives about politicians to which we’re accustomed … except that Scarborough had already announced his resignation months earlier, expressing a desire to spend more time with his children.
Even if you’re 100% down to commit murder, you don’t murder someone to save a political career that is already coming to an end.
And, again, there was no sign of foul play.
And Joe Scarborough is several things, but none of them is a criminal mastermind. Or any kind of mastermind.
But this is just one of many examples of Trump having zero idea of what is and is not appropriate, either for a President or for a human being, to say or do.
Trump has gleefully repeated accusations against famous men whom he considers to be his “enemies.”
He has also been conspicuously quiet about Roy Moore being accused of molesting young girls. Because, well, Roy Moore is a Republican and likely to support Trump’s agenda in Congress.
(Besides, given the accusations about Trump, condemning Roy Moore would come across as hypocritical. Though that’s never stopped Trump before)
Trump also seems to be forgetting (weird, since he himself said that he has one of “the great memories of all time”) that Fox News had to expel a number of high-profile individuals because they, like so many famous and powerful men, turned out to be sex monsters.
Sexual predation doesn’t have a political affiliation, but how people respond when the people they once respected are accused shows a lot about their character.
Another complication to all of this is that Trump was once friends with Joe Scarborough. But he cannot stand criticism of any kind, which is why their relationship has apparently devolved to accusations of murder.
