Television
Aug 15, 2017
Barnicle: Trump ‘Ceded’ His Moral Authority

While the Morning Joe panel analyzes President Donald Trump’s delayed rebuke of the hate groups involved in the violence and bigotry that took place in Charlottesville, Virginia, senior contributor Mike Barnicle explains: “The pace of the media and the culture today has been accelerated, and it is accelerated every single day. This might be a moment to pump the brakes — to stop, and pause, and think about what just happened to the Presidency. The President of the United States ceded his moral authority on Saturday. He could not define or distinguish the different between protests and Nazis – Nazis – on the streets of an American city fomenting a riot. This is not the American story that we’re witnessing. This is a selfish, inward, destructive story that’s taking place and the President’s voice is lacking. And the President has decided not to lead, but to follow, and to follow what and who, we really don’t know. But, it’s not good….I’m an optimist by nature. This country has survived much — it’s prospered greatly. One of the jobs of the President – any President – is to recognize something that people in this country do recognize. There are open wounds in this country: Open wounds of race, of economic disparity, of class disparity. A President’s job is to heal those wounds, not allow the wounds to fester, and poke at the wounds, and probe them, and open even further fissures in the wounds.” Listen to more of the discussion here.