There’s only one word in this piece with which I disagree, and that word is “populist”. I literally wince every time I see the term used to describe the MAGA menace, as it is, IMHO, a word that has been stretched into meaninglessness by reporters and commentators seeking to avoid calling out fascists for what they are. There was nothing genuinely populist about how Trump governed, from his tax cuts for the wealthy to his billionare-ridden cabinet to his corporate-friendly judicial picks. To use the term to describe him merely reinforces and rewards his con, which is exactly what the press needs to stop doing immediately.
There’s only one word in this piece with which I disagree, and that word is “populist”. I literally wince every time I see the term used to describe the MAGA menace, as it is, IMHO, a word that has been stretched into meaninglessness by reporters and commentators seeking to avoid calling out fascists for what they are. There was nothing genuinely populist about how Trump governed, from his tax cuts for the wealthy to his billionare-ridden cabinet to his corporate-friendly judicial picks. To use the term to describe him merely reinforces and rewards his con, which is exactly what the press needs to stop doing immediately.
Marcy Wheeler put it this way, "The GOP is little more than a criminal protection racket to shelter one man, Donald Trump."