The media’s Trump Derangement Syndrome reached new heights of absurdity this week.
Former Biden press secretary turned MSNBC host Jen Psaki couldn’t contain her rage over Trump taking a brief break from public appearances.
And Jen Psaki attacked Trump for one thing that exposed her stunning hypocrisy about Biden.
MSNBC host Jen Psaki delivered a scathing monologue about President Trump’s short break from media appearances over the Labor Day weekend.
Wild rumors circulated on social media that Trump had died simply because he hadn’t been seen publicly for a few days.
When Trump returned to the Oval Office, Fox News’ Peter Doocy asked him directly about the death rumors.
Trump gave somewhat conflicting responses about whether he’d heard the speculation, saying first he hadn’t heard about it, then mentioning reports about it, then back to saying he hadn’t heard anything.
Psaki pounced on this like a hawk swooping down on a field mouse.
“We may never know why Donald Trump suddenly spent a week hiding entirely from the American public,” Psaki declared with all the dramatic flair of a soap opera actress.
She then pivoted to polling data showing Americans are pessimistic about their economic prospects, suggesting Trump was avoiding the public because of bad news.
“You don’t actually need baseless online conspiracies to explain why he might not want to show his face in public right now,” Psaki continued.
The woman actually said this with a straight face.
Here’s what makes this absolutely mind-boggling.
This is the same Jen Psaki who spent nearly three years as Joe Biden’s press secretary making excuses for why the President couldn’t handle basic public appearances.
Remember Biden hiding in his basement during the entire 2020 campaign while Trump was doing multiple rallies per day?
Psaki defended that strategy as “responsible” and “following the science.”
When Biden would disappear for days at a time in Delaware, Psaki would lecture reporters about how hard the President was working behind the scenes.
She’d get visibly irritated when journalists dared to ask why Biden wasn’t taking more questions or making more public appearances.
“The President has a very busy schedule,” became her go-to deflection whenever anyone noticed Biden’s light public calendar.
And let’s not forget the countless times Biden’s handlers rushed him away from reporters or cut off his microphone when he started going off script.
Psaki stood at that podium day after day, week after week, spinning excuses for Biden’s obvious cognitive decline and his team’s desperate attempts to limit his public exposure.
Here’s what actually happened over the Labor Day weekend that sent the media into such a frenzy.
Trump had been doing non-stop public appearances and interviews for weeks leading up to the holiday weekend.
He decided to take a few days off like any normal person might do over a three-day weekend.
But because the political media has become so addicted to Trump content, a few days without Trump sightings triggered wild conspiracy theories.
Social media users started speculating about everything from health issues to secret meetings to dramatic behind-the-scenes developments.
The rumors got so out of hand that even Minnesota Governor Tim Walz felt compelled to joke about the “Trump is dead” speculation at a Labor Day event.
When Trump returned to his normal schedule Tuesday, reporters immediately asked him about the weekend rumors.
His responses were typically Trump – a bit scattered, somewhat contradictory, but hardly evidence of some major crisis.
You want to know what this really reveals about Jen Psaki?
She’s gone from being a government spokesperson to a media commentator – and the change in perspective is dramatic.
As a former press secretary, she knows exactly how challenging it can be to manage a president’s public schedule and media appearances.
She understands the pressures of explaining gaps in public appearances and addressing speculation about a president’s activities.
Yet now she’s on the other side, analyzing and criticizing those same types of decisions.
It’s a complete role reversal that puts her previous experience in an interesting light.
The woman who once had to field questions about presidential schedules is now the one asking the questions.
This whole episode perfectly captures something important about our current media landscape.
A president takes a few days off over a holiday weekend, and it becomes a multi-day news story complete with death rumors and expert analysis.
Social media speculation runs so wild that it forces official responses and news coverage.
The speed at which rumors can spread and gain traction is genuinely remarkable.
Think about how crazy this got.
Trump takes a long weekend – you know, like normal people do on Labor Day – and suddenly half of Twitter thinks he’s dead.
The rumors got so out of control that a sitting governor felt the need to crack jokes about it at a public event.
And then the media treated the whole circus like it was legitimate news.
You’ve got to love how this works now.
A president goes quiet for three days and it becomes a national emergency requiring expert analysis and cable news panels.
And they’re making their own judgments about what’s legitimate news coverage versus what’s manufactured drama.
Jen Psaki can analyze Trump’s media strategy all she wants.
But her commentary mainly serves as a reminder of how different the perspective looks from behind the podium versus in front of the camera.
