Rothman: ‘We’re a More Fragile Country Today than We Were Yesterday’

EXCERPT:

ROTHMAN: “It feels like we’re eternity away from those stories when John Kelly first came on as chief of staff. He was going to rein in this White House and put the tweets in order and then we have the alt-right being prominently featured on the President’s Twitter account. It virtually erases any good that he had done yesterday. We know he’s getting advice from people like Steve Bannon who says, ‘You have this nucleus of support on the fringe, you can’t afford to alienate them.’ The President’s instincts seem to be to listen to people like Steve Bannon and people who say that alt-right is very important to your base so you can’t afford to alienate them or delegitimize them. There’s no doubt they’re emboldened by the President’s reticence to attack them and we’re probably going to see more people come out as alt-right as a result. And, by the way, we’re also going to see the countermovement expand as a result. They are just as legitimized and emboldened. We’re a more fragile country today than we were yesterday.”