The manufactured story of Donald Trump firing Robert Mueller
Here we go again. Every time Special Counsel Robert Mueller takes a major step forward in the Trump-Russia scandal, or even when there’s a slow news week and there needs to be a reason for people to stay tuned in, the mainstream media manufactures the story that Donald Trump is just seconds away from firing Mueller. And it never happens. Audiences end up being so relieved that Mueller still has a job, they don’t catch on that the media is essentially faking this story for ratings every time. Now the media is taking it into overdrive.
After the FBI raided the office and residence of Trump’s attorney Michael Cohen yesterday, one of the first reporter questions to Trump was whether he’s considering firing Mueller. Trump responded with the kind of rambling answer he gives when he doesn’t even know what to think about the matter. The media then took this as an excuse to run headlines insisting that Trump is indeed considering firing Mueller. These headlines, coming from major news outlets on the left and right, are borderline fake news.
Then at today’s briefing, a reporter asked Sarah Huckabee Sanders if Trump thinks he has the legal authority to fire Mueller. Naturally, Sanders replied by asserting that Trump does have the right. How else was she supposed to answer that question? The resulting major media headlines are now declaring that Trump is insisting he has the right to fire Mueller. Now there are major media reports that Trump is considering firing Rod Rosenstein. But we’ve heard that one before too, and there’s never turned out to be any basis to it, so why should be believe it now? This is like Lucy putting the football in front of Charlie Brown, only to predictably pull it away yet again.
We have no idea what Donald Trump is thinking, or will end up doing, in response to this FBI raid. But we know that every time Robert Mueller has made a major move, whether it be arresting Paul Manafort, or cutting a plea deal with Michael Flynn, or subpoenaing the financial records of the Trump Organization, the response from Donald Trump has been to whine and then do nothing. Might he fire Mueller this time? Anything is possible, but there is zero indication of that. The media is manufacturing a story here out of whole cloth, for the sake of ratings. Be vigilant, but don’t fall for false manufactured narratives.
Bill Palmer is the publisher of the political news outlet Palmer Report