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Ain’t that pretty at all

By Scott Lemieux

On May 11, 2023

At 11:40 am

In General

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DENIAL_05480_R_CROP Rachel Weisz stars as acclaimed writer and historian Deborah E. Lipstadt in DENIAL, a Bleecker Street release. Credit: Laurie Sparham / Bleecker Street

CNN’s decision to co-host a Trump campaign rally was just one hekuva job all around:

The first questions asked by Ms. Collins were about Mr. Trump’s refusal to accept his loss in 2020, and his false claims of fraud.
“I think that, when you look at that result and when you look at what happened during that election, unless you’re a very stupid person, you see what happens,” Mr. Trump said, calling the election he lost “rigged.”
Mr. Trump later said he was “inclined” to pardon “many” of the rioters arrested on Jan. 6, 2021, after the attack on the Capitol by a pro-Trump mob during certification of President Biden’s Electoral College win. His avoidance of an unequivocal promise pleased people close to him.
He also came armed with a list of his own Twitter posts and statements from that day — an idea that was his, a person familiar with the planning said. He lied about his inaction that day as Ms. Collins pressed him about what he was doing during the hours of violence. And he said he did not owe Vice President Mike Pence, whose life was threatened by the mob, an apology.
As time has worn on, Mr. Trump has increasingly wrapped his arms around what took place at the Capitol and incorporated it into his campaign. Wednesday night was no exception.
“A beautiful day,” he said of Jan. 6.

This is, as far as it goes, a good response:

There were not fine people on both sides of Charlottesville.

The January 6th rioters were not good people.

End of story. pic.twitter.com/1Jc9yQwTvh— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) May 11, 2023

But it doesn’t change the fundamental irresponsibility of CNN deciding to legitimize Trump’s gleeful authoritarianism. The “marketplace of ideas” cannot effectively rebut the kinds of lies Trump’s campaign is based on. It’s a moot point in the case of Chris Licht — he knows what he’s doing and he got exactly what he wanted — but everybody in the American political media who doesn’t think “democracy vs. fascism” should be an open question should watch Denial at least once a month during the campaign.