Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2024/02/08/cnn-panel-breaks-into-laughter-over-trumps-meandering-self-praise.html
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Just keep the pressure on and he will crack. Not fit for office
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“I think we’ve gotten all the legal analysis we’re going to get out of President Trump,” Tapper said, prompting laughter from the panel.
Trump is not the President. Biden is the President. It’s like the media just can’t help themselves from validating and supporting Trump even while mocking him.
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As appropriate and edifying mockery and laughter are, CNN really has to take the next logical step and stop covering his turd-spewing sessions live. Send cameras, expose the most absurd and horrifying clips to sunlight , but don’t give him a live platform. It’s a waste of everyone’s time and also dangerous.
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It’s not an unusual practice to use the honorific when discussing former Presidents, but it’s a pretty icky reminder when it’s used for that one in particular.
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It would bother me less if they were talking about, say, Bush. But a former President surrounded by a cult of insurrectionists who specifically claim that he secretly won the election and IS still President? Who is running again this year? This type of language fucking matters right now.
EDIT: Even if it isn’t unusual to refer to former Presidents as “President”, one would think one exception would be called for here, especially from people supposedly critical of Trump. Calling him “President Trump” sends a subtle, enabling message that either he’s still President right now as the conspiracy nuts claim, giving them validation during a time when it’s extremely important their ideas are discredited, or a message that his victory in the upcoming election is a foregone conclusion and the media is already eagerly looking forward to talking about President Trump and his daily scandals again, instead of boring old Biden and his normal, competent administration. Maybe that’s not the message they meant to send, and with any other former President it would be harmless, but these are not normal circumstances.
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Good for them laughing at the emperor’s new clothes, but this is like every press conference he gives.
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It seems most common to say “former President” though.
Let’s take it a different way. You’re introducing Obama. Would you call him President Obama?
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“Hello, Former President Obama!”
or
“Hello, President Obama!”
I am going with the second one. The standard choice of honorific for people who have served is their highest attained rank. “President Eisenhower,” not “Former General Eisenhower”.
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News orgs very commonly pick the former when it comes to Obama, though.
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It’s actually protocol to call someone by their highest position in a formal introduction, even if they are no longer in that position. Ambassadors are still called “Ambassador Doe” even if they retired 30 years prior, same with generals, senators, presidents, doctors, etc.
The media may add “retired” to the title if there is a chance for confusion or need for clarity (for example, if a general provides expert commentary on a military operation, “retired” will make clear that the individual is not speaking on behalf of the US Government).
A holdover from the 18th and 19th Centuries, and still formalities needed when dealing with government institutions, especially in diplomatic situations.
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and i think we can all agree there’s quite a bit when it comes to the orange former president
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Yea, it never bugged me with previous presidents, because they all grasped and acted in accordance with the reality of being no-longer-actually-president. A little extra pomp for a former world leader? Totally normal. But normal metastasized some time in the last few years.
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I think that’s not true. There’s only one President, and when you leave the office, it’s just “Mr. X” or equivalent. Etiquette experts and the US Government seem to agree on that much, though according to some you can go by the highest office you previously held for which there are multiples. Say, “Governor Clinton” or “Senator Nixon” or “Defendant Trump.”
Sources: Emily Post, Miss Manners, Rachel Wagner, US embassy in the UK.
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There is only one Governor of Arkansas, and it isn’t Bill Clinton. So why would it make any more sense to call him “Governor Clinton” than it would to call him “President Clinton?”
Even the link you posted lists contact information for each of the former Presidents under the subheading “President _____”:
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We’ve been laughing at this ass-clown since before his cursed Presidential term. Trust me, the MAGA cult would love to see those who laugh at tRump (and by extension MAGAts) be put in their place. The news media needs to stop treating him like an entertaining buffoon and be clear so all know the true danger.
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I like that the list refers to Bush and Obama as honorable, but not TFG. 
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a) Those sources don’t agree on the “governor” bit, and I’m not sure it makes more or less sense. Are we showing respect to the person (so call him President) or the office (so there’s only one)?
b) The embassy gives explicit direction but you’re right, they don’t follow it themselves - that’s a whole different problem.
My point is that calling him “President Trump” is not correct according the rules laid out by those sources. Here’s a deeper dive which says, OK, today we do often say “President X” in conversation but traditionally it wasn’t like that.
How’s about we just call him a piece of shit and be done with it.
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