“There's no doubt that the Russians did interfere in the
election. And I think the interference, although not yet quantified, if fully
investigated would show that Trump didn't actually win the election in 2016. He
lost the election and he was put into office because the Russians interfered on
his behalf.”
Jimmy Carter’s quote about Donald Trump received widespread
media coverage, and for good reason. Whenever a former President says the
current President “didn’t actually win” an election, there’s going to be an
onslaught of media coverage.
Of course, as with everything in the age of Trump, the
national news media quickly moved on. It was an interesting story for a few
hours, and they then collectively moved on to the next Trump-related disaster.
The inability for the media to stay focused on an issue for longer than a Red
Sox/Yankees game has become a defining factor in the Trump presidency, one he
has been able to exploit continuously.
That inability to stay focused was present in Carter’s
quote, yet completely ignored. While Carter’s statement about Trump made the
headlines, it was his statement about other Republicans that was the crux of
his comment.
“If fully investigated…”
Those three words were at the heart of what Jimmy Carter was
trying to say. Sure, Trump didn’t actually win the election but it’s not only
Trump we need to blame. Carter is laying blame on every single Republican, from
Mitch McConnell to William Barr, who refuse to properly investigate what
happened in 2016. More damning, these men are going out of their way to prevent
a proper investigation into what happened.
For those of us who use Twitter (too much), the notion that
Russian trolls were infiltrating the online political discussion was an obvious
no-brainer. Samantha Bee’s show did more investigative journalism on this phenomenon
than any “legit” news outlet.
It didn’t stop the phenomenon, because it felt like the news media refused to believe during the 2016 campaign cycle that Russia would do
something like this. The plan worked in part because it was so brazen. Hell,
the national news media printed Russian propaganda in the form of stolen emails
for the entire last month of the election without questioning it.
So when Jimmy Carter says, “If fully investigated…” he is
indicting every single Republican involved with the current mess we see in the
White House, filtering down through the breakdown of norms and a destruction of
our democracy.
It also begs a much more important question, “Why hasn’t
this been fully investigated?”
How is it possible that one of our enemies attacked our
elections and there hasn’t been a proper investigation into what happened in
the three years following? What are Republicans trying to hide? What do they
know? Why doesn’t the media care?
It’s a question that needs to be answered soon, though I
know it won’t be. The 2020 campaign cycle is in full swing and the national
news media appears to have no qualms about analyzing the 2016 election without looking
in the mirror.
Remember, the Russian disinformation campaign only worked
because the American news media was complicit. They posted the stolen emails.
They ran stories about conspiracy theories, such as Hillary’s emails and her
“failing” health. They fell for all of it.
We don’t have any more insight into what the Russians did in
2016 than we did in 2016. Republicans prevented investigation.
We are left in chaos because one political party has decided
their political party is more important than the nation or the people they have
been elected to serve.
Sure, Jimmy Carter said Trump was illegitimate. What he
really meant to say was Republicans have allowed an illegitimate President to
remain in power.
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