Trump ‘flailing and lying’ as he tries to salvage his handling of the deadly pandemic: MSNBC conservative

MSNBC's Tom Nichols said he's glad to see President Donald Trump "flailing and lying" through another round of coronavirus briefings.

The conservative "Morning Joe" contributor said it was important for Americans to see how badly the president has mismanaged the deadly pandemic, and he said there's no one more capable of demonstrating that failure than Trump himself.

"I think it's really important for the public to see the president flailing and lying, and you know, just trying to throw everything against the wall to see what sticks as he fights for his self-preservation, rather than for the good of the American public," Nichols said. "I think when the president goes on TV and when he tweets -- although the attorney general claims that he doesn't pay attention to tweets, even though the president's tweets are, in fact, policy -- the American people get a direct, unfiltered view of what their president is doing and not through Kayleigh McEnany or any of the official representatives whose job primarily is to always clean up after the elephant."

The recently revived COVID-19 briefings give Americans a chance to see for themselves just how poorly Trump understands the pandemic and how erratically he's addressing it.

"He's doubling down on people talking about alien DNA and witches and sex with demons," Nichols said. "That's what he does, and I think it's clear in those briefings, and the American people can see it for themselves, without having to listen to you or me or any other intermediary, that he will put out as much misinformation as he thinks is necessary to burn down any kind of criticism against him, even if it means putting people's lives directly at risk."