Now that TFG's trial is over, it's time to look back at what effect covering up this story had on the 2016 election. There's a great recap at Public Notice that I urge you to read if you're hazy on the TFG/Stormy timeline. That recap was written before Daniels took the stand, and it marks this turning point:
But with Trump's campaign on the ropes in the wake of the Access Hollywood bombshell, Daniels became an urgent concern. She told National Enquirer editor-in-chief Dylan Howard on October 8 that she was willing to go on the record about her alleged affair. This was the day after the Access Hollywood tape's release, so the timing of a new scandal about Trump having an affair with an adult film actress might have been fatal to his political hopes.
Trump was spinning the Access Hollywood recording as merely "locker room talk" — not something he'd actually do in real life — but Daniels, like McDougal, claimed that Trump cheated on his wife who'd given birth to their son just a few months earlier. This revelation that Trump was cheating not only on his wife but on his mistress with an adult film actress would have solidified Trump's sleazeball image with the undecided voters he needed to swing his way.
According to a CNN analysis of 2016 exit polling, 14 percent of all voters believed both Clinton and Trump were unfit for office. This group voted for Trump 69 to 15 percent. Most were independents and Republicans (38 percent), and just 18 percent were Democrats. Trump needed these voters more than Clinton. Indeed, if they had just sat out the election, Clinton would've beaten Trump in a rout, 53 to 44 percent. These so-called "double haters" were the most susceptible to a negative story about a candidate pushing them in the opposite direction.
I would have disagreed with this assessment before Daniels took the stand. Remember, we did get news about the existence of this story in 2018, and I thought it was a big snoozer. I grew up in Connecticut where our local cable company supplied us with both the local Connecticut affiliates as well as all of the New York City stations so we had plenty of news in the 1980s about TFG. My grandfather was from NYC, and he got the NY Daily News (to keep track of horse racing) and I read it every day too.
TFG cheating on his wife was no revelation—he'd cheated on all of his wives. And yes, this had the salacious detail that the affair was with an adult film actress and that she spanked him with a magazine with his face on it, but honestly, that only made it kind of funny.
But after Daniels testified last month, it immediately became clear that TFG's determination to silence her wasn't rooted in covering up a story that made him look pathetic and sad. Instead, after his predatory behavior was outed in the Access Hollywood tape, it became paramount for him to cover up the rape he had committed.
I don't think this can be emphasized enough: TFG is a violent, dangerous person. Yes he's a sexist, a misogynist, a bully, rude, belligerent, etc., but at his core he is a thug. He attacked Secret Service officers on 1/6. Who knows who else is hiding his violent acts behind a NDA?
It's good that TFG was convicted---mostly it's a giant fucking relief. But now that we know the truth of what he hushed Daniels to hide from us, we need to spread it far and wide. TFG is a dangerous, violent, immoral danger to this nation.
And the media isn't going to emphasize this stuff because of the ever-all-holy horse race metaphor they're all too lazy to abandon. Don't let this get back-burnered in November.
Here's a good song about a bad person:
No comments:
Post a Comment