We have cases

More from the Axios HBO interview:

It’s cute that somebody thinks this is “devastating” for Trump.

I’ve mentioned before that the most consistently underrated fact about Trump is how genuinely stupid he is. And I don’t mean stupid compared to how smart you would want a president of the United States or the manager of a Wendy’s to be. Just flat out stupid in comparison to the average human being. Watch this clip and then imagine trying to brief him on anything. It must be like that Office episode in which they try to explain to Michael about the extra money in the budget for new chairs or a new copier.

. . . there are a bunch of excellent comments in this thread (y’all are keeping me from simply getting drunk before 9 AM). Here are a few but there are many more:

I was just rereading Hannah Arendt’s essay Home to Roost and, really, what is Donald Trump but the logical trajectory of a political process that has become nothing more than a marketing campaign to an electorate obsessed with the hot air of American Exceptionalism? One would hope that the dismal inability to bring the virus under control would pop that balloon, but not holding my breath. Human stupidity is legendary, and the US is a particularly devoted worshiper of it.

Obviously, the “now we’ve finally got him” talk is pretty silly at this point.

But I wouldn’t underestimate the degree to which this humiliates other journalists and that–not outrage about Trump’s actions and inaction as president–could spur them to try to emulate Swan. And having Trump clearly and constantly broadcast his ignorance could help deflate the enthusiasm of more marginal Republicans.

So: devastating? No. Useful? Yes.

A lot of people are falling all over themselves praising Swan for his interview “technique” here, but I’d just like to note that he’s not using some form of journalistic sleight of hand to elicit the dumbfuckery from Trump, he’s simply not letting the president spout five moronic things and a couple of real whoppers per answer, and then trying to circle back and focus on the most egregious. No, Swan is interrupting Trump, and either challenging each moronic answer, or asking him to clarify the whopper.

This is how you interview an inveterate liar. You don’t give them the opportunity to gambol across the fields of deception and dishonesty, leaving turds of deceit and disinformation sprinkled in their wanderings while you’re left sniffing out which one you’re going to step in.

The press still hasn’t figured out that dealing with a man this dishonest, this reptilian, this bugfuck crazy, means you have to adjust your approach when dealing with him. Good on Swan for finally finally FUCKING FINALLY showing them all how it can be done.

Many comments wonder why Trump’s approval is so sticky at 40%. My mango-hunting expeditions have demonstrated that the right wing just goes into Baghdad Bob mode and rants about the Silent Majority and Unskewed Polls and how that the Real True (Straight White Male) Americans really love Trump. It’s of a piece with their fondness for gold investment scams, dried food, and other just plain grifts. Moderates and liberals — the Jacobin Left is about the same as the right on the Gullible Scale — look for evidence. No one else does. Trump feeds their egos and that’s as far as they ever look.

Greetings, my friend. We are all interested in the future, for that is where you and I are going to spend the rest of our lives. And remember my friend, future events such as these will affect you in the future. You are interested in the unknown… the mysterious. The unexplainable. That is why you are here. And now, for the first time, we are bringing to you, the full story of what happened on that fateful day. We are bringing you all the evidence, based only on the secret testimony, of the miserable souls, who survived this terrifying ordeal. The incidents, the places. My friend, we cannot keep this a secret any longer. Let us punish the guilty. Let us reward the innocent. My friend, can your heart stand the shocking facts of the presidency of Donald Trump?