Some journalists are doing a fine job at covering the RNC, but others are failing in a dangerous way. Not every misdeed needs to be mentioned, but completely ignoring the misdeeds facilitates anti-democratic forces. Coverage should be grounded in what we know about the admin. . .

For example, we know they accepted foreign help to undermine our democracy. We know they obstructed justice when these actions were being investigated. We know they timed the release of stolen emails in order to distract from allegations of sexual assault.

We know Trump called Mexicans rapists. We know he said a judge could not be impartial b/c of his heritage. We know he banned Muslims from entering the country. We know he tried—and continues to try—to take our healthcare away.

We know Trump has profited off of the presidency. We know he said Nazis were fine people. We know they employ people who share white supremacist documents in the White House.

We know Trump & his cronies have either tacitly endorsed or ignored large-scale crimes such as genocide, as well as targeted crimes against individuals, such as the murder and dismembering of a journalist.

We know that Trump ordered children to be separated from their parents. We know they had no plan to reunite these families. We know that they were told this would cause untold psychological damage. We know that they didn’t care b/c, of course, “the cruelty was the point.”

We know that Trump tried to extort a vulnerable country in order to get dirt on his political opponents. We know that he told four congresswomen to go back to their countries, based solely on the color of their skin, not on their citizenship.

We know Trump frequently targets people of color on twitter, including private citizens. We know he spent years insinuating Barack Obama might not have been born in this country because he is black. We know his wife, Melania, supported him in these efforts.

We know Trump has been accused of sexual assault by ~25 women. We know his name has been implicated in numerous hate crimes—both here and abroad. We know one of his supporters sent bombs to Democrats.

We know a man who admired Trump killed 50 Muslim people in New Zealand. We know Trump's lies about a “caravan” were active in the mentality of a man who killed 11 Jewish people in Pittsburg. We know hate crimes continue to rise under his presidency.

We know that in response to BLM protests, Trump said, “when the looting starts, the shooting starts.” We know that he had peaceful protesters tear gassed so he could stage a photo op while holding a bible upside down. We know he despises the First Amendment.

We know Trump has told so many lies since becoming president that there are journalists who earn their living documenting them (& thank you to those journalists & those who pay them).

We know that he is currently trying to subvert democracy by interfering w/ the USPS during a pandemic in which many feel scared to leave their homes. We know he is doing this despite the fact that it means sick people can no longer receive their medications, let alone safely vote

We know the pandemic in the U.S. is one of the worst cases in the world b/c the Trump administration failed to act. We know they ignored intelligence as early as November.

We know the Trump refused to start producing PPE that would protect both healthcare workers & citizens more generally. We know they refused early tests. We know that, at multiple points, the admin has attempted to drive testing down to deflate #’s

We know that they told us masks wouldn't work b/c, in fact, they didn't have enough masks to help us.

We know they have lied to us.

We know they made wearing masks part of a culture war. We know Trump himself encouraged individuals to threaten governors who were trying to control the disease. We know that, time & time again, they undermined public health. We know they touted dangerous, unproven treatments.

We know that they thought they could escape the virus because it wouldn’t hurt “their” people, meaning white people.

We know that at least 177,572 people are dead.

We know that, in the past few weeks, Trump has not only tried to openly undermine our democracy, he has openly stated his desire to be a Forever-President.

Now consider all that we know against the backdrop of journalists declaring that Nikky Haley & Tim Scott were really effective in defending Trump against racism. That Don Jr. gave a compelling speech. That Melania Trump made history by saying “slavery was bad” in front of the WH.

Journalists who do this are ignoring that the pandemic has barely been mentioned. They are ignoring the multiple crimes committed by members of the Trump admin, including by Trump himself.

Worse, though, they are white-washing the systemic racism of this administration. They are facilitating the very propaganda that allows racism to grow into an ever-larger flame.

We know they are racist. Start treating them as such.

We know this group of people at the rnc are criminals. We know they are racists. We know they want to undermine our democracy. We know their world-view is fascistic. We know they are making moves that look an awful lot like fascism. I do not use that term lightly. . . .

But, even for a cautious person, the term "fascistic" does reasonably apply to a large-scale attempt to undermine democracy, as well as repeated efforts to systematically oppress & demonize POC.

Do better at recognizing this context.

If Melania was, in fact, effective, she was effective in convincing white people that they could feel comfortable voting for more racism. She didn't show "another side." She showed the same side. The racist side.