Discrediting the messenger, rather than focusing on the message is order of day for Trump White House
Marjorie Taylor Greene has become the most aggressive spokesperson for the “Make America Great Again” movement.
It’s perhaps no surprise, then, that she would read straight from a fraying playbook when confronted about the Signal group chat fiasco.
Team Trump has adopted a crisis management strategy of attack, discredit, and distract, a dark art of which Taylor Greene is emerging as a master.
Marjorie Taylor Greene deflected Sky News’ questions – and instead went on the attack. Pic: Associated Press.
When questioned about whether the texts on the group chat, detailing timings and weapons to be used on strikes on Houthis in Yemen, amount to classified information, she refused to answer the question.
Read more here:
More details of US security breach revealed
Atlantic publishes more texts shared on leaked chat
The representative from Georgia attempted to deflect attention on to the Biden administration, then on to the US’s border problem and finally, in a remarkable act of contortion, on to “all the women that are raped by migrants” in the UK.
Refusing to answer a question from Sky News, she then turned to a question from a US reporter, who also asked for clarification on her views about the Signal scandal and its national security ramifications.
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Eventually, Taylor Greene did respond to The Atlantic magazine’s revelation of texts on the signal group chat, fully backing defence secretary, Pete Hegseth, who is facing calls for his resignation.
In MAGA world, the villain of this scandal is Jeffrey Goldberg, the editor of The Atlantic, who was inadvertently invited on to the group chat.
Some of the messages shared in the leaked war plans group chat on Signal messaging app.
Despite the fact that Goldberg took care over his reporting and potentially exposing major failings in the way senior government communicate, he has been repeatedly smeared by the White House.
Donald Trump calls him a “sleazebag”, national security advisor Michael Waltz equates him to “journalists trying to make a name for themselves”, and press secretary Karoline Leavitt calls him an “anti-Trump hater.”
Discrediting the messenger, rather than focusing on the message and what lessons can be learned, is the order of the day for the Trump White House.
Charlie Kirk has been posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by Donald Trump.
The USA’s highest civilian honour was received by the conservative activist’s widow, Erika, at the White House.
Mr Kirk, 31, was fatally shot on 10 September while speaking at an event at Utah Valley University.
He founded Turning Point USA and toured American university campuses, debating students about current affairs.
Erika Kirk at the White House. Pic: Reuters
Erika Kirk and Donald Trump. Pic: Reuters
Addressing those attending the ceremony in the White House rose garden, the US president said they were there to “honour and remember a fearless warrior for liberty” and a “beloved leader who galvanised the next generation”.
He said Mr Kirk’s name was being entered “forever into the eternal roster of true American heroes”.
Mr Trump described Charlie Kirk as an “American patriot of the deepest conviction, the finest quality and the highest calibre”.
He said his nation had been “robbed” of an “extraordinary champion”.
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Has Charlie Kirk become a MAGA ‘martyr’?
And Mr Trump said Mr Kirk was assassinated in the “prime of his life for boldly speaking the truth, for living his faith, and relentlessly fighting for a better and stronger America”.
The ceremony coincided with what would have been Mr Kirk’s 32nd birthday.
Mr Trump described Erika Kirk, now head of Turning Point USA, as someone who had “endured unspeakable hardship with unbelievable strength”.
Read more:
What do we know about Erika Kirk?
Charlie Kirk’s movement is growing in wake of his assassination
Charlie Kirk. File pic: AP
A 22-year-old man, Tyler Robinson, from the city of Washington in Utah has been charged with Mr Kirk’s murder. Prosecutors said they would seek the death penalty.
At a memorial event held at a stadium in Arizona, Erika Kirk told an enormous crowd she forgave her husband’s killer.
“The answer to hate is not hate,” she said.
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