Rachel Smalley's opinion
I try not to talk about Donald Trump too much these days.
It's bad for my blood pressure. And my sanity. And my general faith in world politics and the human race, to be honest.
You get the picture. You know I am no fan.
But at what point will Americans wake up to how destructive this man is, and how ill-suited he is for the presidency? When will they take to the streets in their hundreds of thousands and demand he stand down? Because that's what they need to do.
Overnight, Trump's been on twitter. His tweets are that of an ignorant school boy. They're inflammatory, xenophobic, dismissive of the sexual harassment horrors that keep emerging in the media and film industry.
Let me take you through it.
He has retweeted three inflammatory videos from a British anti-Muslim, far-right account.
The account is run by a woman — Jayda Fransen — who was found guilty of religiously aggravated harassment last year when she abused a Muslim woman for wearing a hijab. The woman was with her four children when she was abused. Fransen's due in court next month to face more charges of threatening, abusive and insulting behaviour.
In the videos that Trump's retweeted from her account, you see a young man who Fransen says is a Muslim, beating up another young man. In another, it looks like it could be Isis in Iraq, a man is thrown from a roof. And in a third video, it shows a Muslim man damaging a statue of the Virgin Mary.
Trump often shares questionable content, but these tweets are highly explosive and incredibly inflammatory — and they're from the account of this woman who runs British first. A fascist, nationalist, far-right group.
And so that's one issue. It's quite an issue. But it's not the only issue overnight from Trump's bizarre presidency.
Matt Lauer was sacked by the NBC overnight. He's one of the most famous TV news anchors in America. He earns more than $25 million a year, he moderated an election debate between Trump and Clinton, but he's gone.
You may recognise his name.
He's the American who bought the Hunter Valley Station near Wanaka this year. It's 6500ha.
Anyway, I digress. He's been sacked from the NBC.
And why? An allegation of sexual misconduct. The complaint from a colleague is detailed, apparently — and NBC has immediately terminated his contract. Lauer has either admitted to it, or the allegation is so severe it warranted Lauer's immediate sacking.
And so Trump sent another tweet.
This is what it said.
"Wow. Matt Lauer was just fired from the NBC for inappropriate sexual behaviour in the workplace. But when will the top executives at NBC be fired for putting out so much fake news."
Wow, Matt Lauer was just fired from NBC for “inappropriate sexual behavior in the workplace.” But when will the top executives at NBC & Comcast be fired for putting out so much Fake News. Check out Andy Lack’s past!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 29, 2017
I mean, I can't even — I don't know where to start with that. He's dismissed what is clearly a serious allegation of sexual misconduct, and used it to have another go at the media.
So now that Matt Lauer is gone when will the Fake News practitioners at NBC be terminating the contract of Phil Griffin? And will they terminate low ratings Joe Scarborough based on the “unsolved mystery” that took place in Florida years ago? Investigate!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 29, 2017
Where are the checks and balances with this man? There are none. None whatsoever.
How is it that this man was elected to run the most powerful country in the world?
Honestly, if humanity survives his presidency, we'll be doing very well.