President Donald Trump has failed to inspire systematic confidence in his so-called leadership as president. On Sunday, as protests over police brutality raged across the United States, Trump did not even appear in front of a camera — he just hid in the White House and tweeted occasional agitated, paranoid threats. As the protests raged, prominent conservative political commentator Meghan McCain spoke out against what she referred to as “cowardice” from the president and his team. Her sentiments suggest that the president definitely can’t even count on the support of everyone in his own political party as the November elections approach and he hopes to win a second term in office.
It is hard to fully dramatize how bad all of this is for a narcissist like Trump. He looks weak. His attempts to look strong get leaked and lampooned. There are crowds outside his window.
This is existential crisis-level stuff for someone like Trump. https://t.co/vkbd44NNur
— The Hoarse Whisperer (@HoarseWisperer) June 1, 2020
McCain posted:
‘We are leaderless right now and anarchy is winning. Where are our leaders? Are you all just going to abandon us and our country? COWARDS! All of you!!! But most especially the President and every member of his team who continues to condone his utter COWARDICE!!’
We are leaderless right now and anarchy is winning. Where are our leaders? Are you all just going to abandon us and our country? COWARDS! All of you!!! But most especially the President and every member of his team who continues to condone his utter COWARDICE!!
— Meghan McCain (@MeghanMcCain) June 1, 2020
The observation that, amidst national unrest, the United States is “leaderless” is desperately serious and has paradigm-shattering ramifications for the near future of the United States. The country does not have reliable national leadership — during an appearance on Fox this week, White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany tried to excuse the president’s refusal to even deliver an Oval Office address by claiming that the step wouldn’t be effective against “Antifa,” who the Trump team alleges is behind the unrest. In fact, “antifa” is not a centralized organization. The Trump team is making up a culture war that the president isn’t actually fighting in a desperate attempt to excuse his abject failures in the real world.
Analysis: Trump’s inability to speak convincingly to anyone but his base is a unique liability in the moment https://t.co/cnndcjTKLg
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) June 1, 2020
Washington Post reporter Philip Rucker troublingly shared this week:
‘Trump and advisers calculated that he shouldn’t speak to the nation because he had nothing to say, no tangible policy or action to announce, nor did he feel an urgent motivation to try to bring people together. So he let his tweets speak for themselves.’
What a pathetic excuse for leadership from the so-called president.
Trump and advisers calculated that he shouldn’t speak to the nation because he had nothing to say, no tangible policy or action to announce, nor did he feel an urgent motivation to try to bring people together. So he let his tweets speak for themselves. https://t.co/JjcIC8oxiD
— Philip Rucker (@PhilipRucker) May 31, 2020
Check out Twitter’s response to McCain’s reaction below:
