In roughly 20 seconds on Wednesday night, Rachel Maddow succinctly explained how Donald Trump has dragged the U.S. presidency deep into the gutter in only a year.
The MSNBC star explained that the openings to her broadcasts during the Trump era would have been unthinkable just a year ago when the United States was lucky enough to have a responsible adult in the White House: Barack Obama.
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In 20 Seconds, Rachel Maddow Explains How Trump Has Dragged The U.S. Presidency Into The Gutter #Maddow pic.twitter.com/0rSWTIB704
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— Sean Colarossi (@SeanColarossi) January 18, 2018
Maddow said:
You know, a year ago, Barack Obama was the president. The prospect of there being an opening to a newscast like the one I just did, you’d check yourself into a doctor. But this is our life now. This is our nightly news now about the American presidency.
On this particular night, Maddow was referring to the clown show that was Donald Trump’s “highly anticipated fake news awards,” which were poorly rolled out on Wednesday.
She was also referring to the news that Trump reportedly paid a porn star $130,000 to keep quiet about a sexual encounter she had with the now-president back in 2006 – after Trump had married Melania Trump.
During each news cycle, journalists are reporting on stories that would be unimaginable during the Obama presidency. In fact, just one of these stories – an assault on the free press or a paying hush money to a porn star – would have sent news outlets into a frenzy.
But as Maddow said, “This is our life now,” and it’s – sadly – become the new normal.
In the Trump era, stories like this break on a near-nightly basis, whether it’s the president calling African nations “shithole countries” or openly expressing his desire to obstruct a criminal investigation or attacking Gold Star families or defending white supremacists after a racist terror attack, and on and on.
After Barack Obama spent eight years representing the United States with class and dignity, Donald Trump has dragged the American presidency into the gutter at lightspeed.
Sean Colarossi currently resides in Cleveland, Ohio. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and was an organizing fellow for both of President Obama’s presidential campaigns. He also worked with Planned Parenthood as an Affordable Care Act Outreach Organizer in 2014, helping northeast Ohio residents obtain health insurance coverage.
