Monday, December 22, 2025

3 NYT Columnists Walk Into A Podcast

 And unsurprisingly, it’s all about “Follow the Money.”

“[H]e’s making these claims about inflation that aren’t true, making these claims about wages that aren’t true, making these claims about costs that aren’t true — just a torrent of falsehoods,” said columnist Jamelle Bouie. “All clearly coming from a place of deep frustration that he isn’t as popular and well beloved as he believes he should be, which, on the one hand, is a sign that something of reality is penetrating this White House. On the other hand, it’s clear that they have no sense of how to respond to that.”

“The title of this, as best I could tell, was ‘Screw You All, You Whiners: The Economy’s Great, and if It’s Not, Blame Biden.’ said columnist Michelle Cottle. “That was it, again and again — oh, and ‘hate the immigrants.’ So I am just not sure what they’re hoping to accomplish with that, other than maybe to increase the calls for him to get another cognitive assessment. But I thought it was pretty magical.”

...

Columnist David French called the speech “Banana Republic-flavored Soviet propaganda” but with less effectiveness.

“If you go back and you remember Soviet propaganda in the ’70s and the ’80s … Everything is always going so well, they’re going onto greater and higher achievements. And you always had this presentation of relentless forward momentum,” said French. “And then the reason I say ‘Banana Republic-flavored’ is because it was filtered through this demagogic figure who essentially … believes that he can basically talk his way out of anything: ‘Get me in front of the American people, I’ll fix this affordability thing. Get me in front of the American people, I’ll fix this political decline.’”
"[O]h, and hate the immigrants." Almost an afterthought, right? Let’s go to the tape: "Reverse migration” is a straight up white supremacy term. I lived through the days of George Wallace and Strom Thurmond and Jesse Helms, and I never heard that one. I’ve only started hearing it, regularly, with the second Trump administration. First from Kristi Noem and Stephen Miller, and now from the President himself. Having field tested it as the justification for ICE raids on any non-white people who happen to be in the country, now the President of the United States uses it like we were all in agreement on the good it will produce, and our opinion writers with the biggest platform insist “It’s only the economy, stupid.” And then Trump crossed the streams. Economic ignorance AND racist xenophobia, which is referred to as “oh, and hate the immigrants.” The loudest peep the three could muster. Because we dare not acknowledge that elephant in the room. So Trump again addressed “oh, and the immigrants.” Immigrants who happen to be elected U.S. representatives: Whom he’d happily denaturalize and deport; but don’t let that get in the way of the discussion of the economy Trump himself resolutely refused to have in Pennsylvania. Instead, he talked repeatedly about his wife’s underwear.

But don’t mention that, either. You might scare the children. Or have to address the fact that not only is the President’s economic policy subject to criticism (it elevates it beyond reason to even treat it as a “policy”), but he’s a bull goose looney racist who is no longer hiding it, and he’s crazy as a shithouse rat to boot. 

But this is the New York Times, and that is not news that’s fit; nor is it opinion allowed in the drawing room, even when the ladies are not present. Let’s leave this on a subject we can all “tut-tut” about.

We’re not going to pay attention to the Administration’s racism anytime soon, are we?
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