Jonathan Lemire: New York Times Front Page Led to Trump’s ‘Twitter Explosion’

EXCERPT:

LEMIRE: "'The New York Times' front page was such a powerful statement in image because, in part, of all the names that couldn’t fit on that front page. And I encourage people, if you haven’t yet, to please look at it. It is not just names but there snippets and descriptions of a life, a life that ended too soon. It was an extraordinary piece of journalism by the 'Times.' I’m glad this show did a special noting the hundreds of thousands yesterday. The President here is eager to talk about anything else. That is why, according to people I've talked to around him, it led to the Twitter explosion this weekend. 100,000 will be a somber milestone, when we hit it in the next couple of days. Combined, of course, with a struggling economy, these are the things the President knows are going to very much damage his re-election chances. Obviously, he’s never been one to show much in the way of empathy. He struggled with previous tragedies like a hurricane or a forest fire, really relating to those who have lost. And he’s rarely talked about that in terms of this pandemic. He’s rarely offered words of sympathy for those that have gone. It was only this weekend that he finally moved to lower the flag at the White House and federal buildings to half-staff. That came after a suggestion from House Speaker Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Schumer to do so.” 

(via The Contemptor)