Article in Daily Kos by James Jarmess, 9/16/24
Headline: The Sick Worn-out Trick That the Media keep Falling For — Every time
“(Rachel) Maddow just told the story of this kid who knows he is failing his Exam, in the middle of taking it. Desperate, he manages to pull the school’s Fire Alarm. Granted, he gets caught, and he catches hell for that stunt. But he is no longer ‘failing the Exam’ — everyone is now focused on his ‘bad behavior.’ Side benefit — the Exam was cancelled.
“Then Maddow draws that as an analogy of what Trump did in the Debate: When he realized he was ‘failing his Exam’ — before a national audience — he does something so unthinkable, it will change for discussion for days. Trump vehemently tells the made-up urban legend of Haitian immigrants stealing and eating pets.”