7 stories to know: Trump's unhinged weekend, a solar power boom, and the worsening internet
“7 stories to know” is a new Monday series showcasing stories that may have been ignored in the crush of news over the past few weeks, and stories that have continued to evolve over the weekend. Expect to read coverage about health, science, and climate that frequently take second chair to what’s happening at the top of the page, plus information from local sources that the national media may have overlooked.
1. Trump’s weekend of madness, and the media’s continued silence
Donald Trump spoke to the Faith and Freedom Coalition conference at the Washington Hilton on Saturday. The next day, Trump held a sparsely attended rally in Philadelphia, which he described as “one of the most egregious places anywhere in the world.”
Between those two events, Trump delivered moments that should have been the end of any campaign. But because the media has decided that Trump gets a special exemption from either the truth or making sense, don’t expect to see pundits reviewing these statements on Monday morning.
Some of those clips involved the sort of nonsensical rambling that fills so much time at Trump rallies, like this extended riff on lather, showers, his hair, and why “they don’t want you to have any water.”
Other moments were the stuff of absolute nightmare fuel, as in this moment when Trump threatened to take off his clothes and reveal his “beautiful, beautiful body” along with the stigmata of his struggles with justice.
“I’ve taken a lot of wounds, I can tell you,” he said. “More than I suspect any president ever.”
And there was Trump’s proposal for pitting migrants against each other in an arena for amusement.
“It’s not the worst idea I ever had,” Trump said. Amazingly, that’s true, but only because he’s had some really terrible ideas.
Finally, there’s the moment where Trump told the Faith and Freedom crowd that they have to get out and vote this time, but in four years … don’t worry about it.
"In four years, don't vote. I don't care,” he said. “But we'll have it all straightened out so it'll be much different."
This is far, far from a comprehensive list. Both of Trump’s speeches included other moments when he seemed to be going simply off the rails or when he expressed his usual lies about the economy, crime, and the 2020 election. But this cluster of statements should be more than enough to disqualify anyway.
Anyone without special treatment.