Trump spends day with right-wing playwright and D-list FOX hosts while markets plunge
While the stock market records one of the worst drops in history and public concern skyrockets over disturbing reports of careless mismanagement of infected coronavirus patients by the Department of Health and Human Services, one might expect the president of the United States to be spending his days meeting with advisers and experts, coordinating the national response and keeping abreast of incoming developments.
Not President Donald Trump, however, who continues to break new ground in the field of “fiddling while Rome burns.” While multiple crises unfold across the country, the president could be found talking to the stars of a low-budget right-wing play, “FBI Lovebirds: Undercovers.”
The play is a depiction of one of the president’s favorite conspiracy theory: the affair of Peter Strzok and Lisa Page, two FBI agents involved in the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s email server who were discovered to have been exchanging text messages disapproving of Trump’s candidacy.
The pair have since become the subject of countless hours of Hannity monologues and play a very prominent role in the paranoid mythology that the president has concocted to excuse the investigations into his extensive and well-documented wrongdoing.
The Daily Beast reports that Trump was so engaged in the concept that his scheduled 15-minute meeting with the playwright ran for nearly an hour, because the president was busy ranting about how unfair the entire thing has been to him and his people:
“McAleer said Trump complained in the meeting about “why some people are in prison [and] why other people aren’t” — an apparent re-airing of grievances that law enforcement officials involved in investigating his campaign haven’t been charged, while his own campaign staffers have been.”
Following this meeting, Trump held a press event with his favorite African-American talking heads like right-wing extremist Candace Owens of Turning Point USA and pro-Trump commentators “Diamond and Silk.”
Trump is here with many guests including Candace Owens and Diamond and Silk. pic.twitter.com/JmLv10tP7b
— Josh Wingrove (@josh_wingrove) February 27, 2020
Apparently, it is too much to ask that the leader of the free world spend some of his day doing actual work when there are multiple crises to deal with.
Original reporting by Will Sommer at the Daily Beast.
Opinion columnist and former editor-in-chief of Occupy Democrats. He graduated from Bennington College with a Bachelor's degree in history and political science. He now focuses on advancing the cause of social justice and equality in America.