NBC News' First Read—their daily breaking news summary—made note of something that prior to January 2017 would have been considered a major development. Now, not so much.
What was this paradigm shift?
Three scandals from the administration of President Donald Trump all broke on Tuesday:
- Trump reportedly asked acting Attorney General Matt Whitaker to ensure a Trump ally was in charge of the Michael Cohen investigation
- Trump administration insiders "told a congressional committee that efforts by former national security adviser Michael Flynn to transfer sensitive nuclear technology to Saudi Arabia may have violated the law, and investigators fear Trump is still considering it"
- Reports surfaced House and Senate Democrats "obtained evidence that a senior official at the Department of Education tried to oust the department’s independent watchdog after she pushed back on an attempt to interfere in an active investigation of Secretary Betsy DeVos"
But investigations, resignations and firings under clouds of scandal, charges of ethics violations and indictments are so commonplace in the Trump administration that three new ones seemed like a normal day.
NBC called the Trump administration "ethically challenged."
According to NBC:
"Any one of these stories would have dominated the news — for days and weeks — in any other administration. But in our current era, it was just Tuesday."
And people noticed the new normal.
Although the Trump administration line of defense against all such stories—even those that go from alleged to confirmed—seems to be paying dividends.
While a new Trump administration scandal is an expected almost daily occurrence, his ardent followers' claims of fake news are equally predictable.
Trump's own reaction to at least one of the scandals was to attack the messenger: The New York Times.
But unlike the President's core supporters, most people found his response troublesome.
NBC provided additional coverage on each story, but felt they also needed to make a statement about the new normal.
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