TRUMPOCALYPSE: ‘Radical,’ ‘Dark’ Inaugural Speech Mystifies TV Talking Heads as News Crews Scramble for Metaphors

The television anchors, reporters and analysts covering President Donald Trump’s inaugural speech may have appeared on different networks, but they were united in their depictions of Trump’s speech.

“A speech that, in the early 1960s, gave us ‘ask not,’ today gave us ‘American carnage,’” said MSNBC anchor Brian Williams.

“One of the most radical inauguration speeches we’ve ever heard … Pure populism,” CNN’s Jake Tapper said.

“This was Donald Trump seizing power, in the sense that there is a new sheriff in town,” Fox News anchor Chris Wallace said. “The American carnage must stop right here, right now. … This was the speech of an insurgent, the leader of a revolt that has won and taken control of Washington.”

Even the more charitable descriptions of the speech noted the darkness of his rhetoric.

[Read the full story here, at POLITICO]

“I thought the speech was not poetic, but quite strong. It was very much Trump. While it wasn’t soaring he had many lines that were quite memorable,” said Fox News’ Brit Hume. “He painted this dark landscape of circumstances in this country, and promised to fix it all, basically.”

Some fact-checked Trump’s speech, which mentioned crime rates and Americans out of work.

“It was a dark, even pessimistic view of where we are at the moment,” said CNN’s John King. “The statistics will tell you illegal border crossings are down; didn’t sound like that from the speech. The statistics would tell you we have 4.7 percent unemployment. He talked about how terrible things are and how horrible they are in the country … this is trademark Trump. This is how he campaigned; it’s his brand of populism.”

Many noted that Trump did not focus his speech on bipartisanship or unity. Instead, he continued the themes from his campaign….(read more)

Source: POLITICO

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