MSNBC historian rips Trump's 'reality show' pandemic press conferences -- and urges everyone to ignore the president

A very agitated Jon Meacham dropped the hammer on President Donald Trump on MSNBC's "Morning Joe," on Friday morning for his lie-filled appearances at the daily coronavirus pandemic press conferences, -- and advised the public to ignore the president because he has nothing useful to offer.


Speaking with host Mika Brzezinski, the historian was asked to compare Trump's efforts to rally the country -- and industry -- into a war footing to battle the exploding health crisis with the efforts of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt during World War II.

"The doctors, nurses, medical personnel, the testing people, they are the soldiers in this war -- we're all part of it, obviously, because we could all be victims, or carriers of it, but they are really the classic idea of the soldier," he explained. "Imagine how you would feel if we were in a traditional shooting war, and the commander in chief failed to put bullets in the rifles of our soldiers -- that's where we are."

"It's not even as complicated, I don't think, as making a bullet," he continued, describing the medical mask shortage. "As Joe Biden likes to say, this is the United States of America. We have defeated communist tyranny. We've defeated Nazi Germany. We've carried the idea, if not the reality, of the quality throughout the world for 240 years and we can't make masks? Really?"

"With this concentration of wealth, with this concentration of skill, we're going to isolate and watch these now sort of hour and ten, hour and fifteen minutes of this Trump reality show he does at midday, which is fine if it is a reality for him, but it is our reality," he exclaimed. "It is unconscionable. The private sector, citizens need to step forward. At this point, we cannot rely on the president to be a good and effective actor in this time of crisis -- that's my historical view."

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