Donald Trump and his people are spiraling completely out of control
As Palmer Report told you, Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick appeared Monday night on Fox News’s “Tucker Carlson Tonight” to make the case for why older Americans should risk their lives for the Dow. Patrick, who has six grandchildren, told Carlson that he’s “willing to take a chance” on his survival “in exchange for keeping the America that all America loves for your children and grandchildren.” Patrick insisted that he’s “all in” with this idea, yet it does not make him “noble or brave or anything like that.”
He’s right about the last part. Patrick’s dangerously ignorant stance does not make him noble or brave or anything like that—just stupid. Not surprisingly, Fox News decided double down by presenting crazy to justify stupid. Last night, Fox News contributor Brit Hume appeared on Carlson’s show to lend credence to Patrick’s argument, but he succeeded only in driving the whole thing off the rails.
Carlson began Hume’s interview by specifically asking him about Patrick’s controversial statement. However, Hume chose to pretend otherwise in order to suggest to listeners who aren’t paying close attention that even New York Governor Andrew Cuomo is on board with Patrick’s nonsense. After stating that Patrick is saying “essentially the same thing” as Donald Trump and Cuomo, Hume then softly revealed that he was referring only to the idea that the current situation is “not sustainable.”
After that shameless verbal sleight of hand, Hume then spoke to the issue, insisting that it makes sense that Patrick is “more willing to take a risk of getting the disease if that’s what it took to allow the economy to move forward” given that “he’s late in life.” Hume confidently concluded that it “seems to me to be an entirely reasonable viewpoint.” Although we will beat the coronavirus, stopping the spread of insanity is a different story. When an unreasonable person starts lecturing about what’s reasonable, the reasonable thing to do is stop listening.
Ron Leshnower is a lawyer and the author of several books, including President Trump’s Month