Is the President comparing Covington Catholic students to Parkland students?
For the second time in less than 12 hours President Donald Trump has lent the imprimatur of his office to the dozens of MAGA hat-wearing conservative all-male Catholic school students who stand accused of harassing a Native American exercising his First Amendment rights of religion and free speech on the National Mall.
Late Monday night Trump tweeted the teens had been “smeared by the media!”
And now, the President is not only trying to use the teens to strengthen his ties to his rapidly dwindling base, he appears to be trying to frame them as the next Parkland teens, who survived tragedy and went on to reshape the national conversation on gun control.
Only this time, Trump’s target is the mainstream media.
“Nick Sandmann and the students of Covington have become symbols of Fake News and how evil it can be,” Trump said, co-opting the teens. “They have captivated the attention of the world, and I know they will use it for the good – maybe even to bring people together. It started off unpleasant, but can end in a dream!”
One wonders how long it will be until they receive invitations to the White House, and are heralded as heroes of the Trump regime.
The videos certainly show what many believe to be inappropriate behavior by the teens. A Republican PR firm linked to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell was whisked in to reshape the narrative. That lead conservatives to see an opportunity to attack a mainstream media hurt by the allegations against Buzzfeed’s story that President Trump directed Michael Cohen to lie to Congress.
It must be nice to have friends in high places. But what, exactly, are the students learning from all this?
Some responses to the President’s tweet: