The Point: Kayleigh McEnany is gaslighting America

View this email in your browser   August 25, 2021  | by Chris Cillizza and Lauren Dezenski Kayleigh McEnany is gaslighting America On Tuesday night right here on planet Earth, former Trump White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said these words:   "When President Trump was president, you didn't see crisis after crisis. You just didn't see it."   Yes. She really said that. With a straight face. (And yes, of course, she was on Fox News with Jesse Watters.)   The crisis-free administration that McEnany is envisioning included (among other things):   * Donald Trump being impeached by the House for an attempted quid pro quo with Ukraine   * Donald Trump being impeached by the House for his role in the January 6 Capitol riot -- an insurrection that left more than 100 police officers injured and five people dead   * The Covid-19 pandemic ravaging across the United States   * 37 people and entities being charged with crimes as part of Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election. Seven people were sentenced to prison.    That's just the greatest hits, er, misses. The four years Trump spent as president were defined by chaos and crises; he seemed to attract them like moths to a flame.   What McEnany is doing here is classic gaslighting. She is trying to make you believe that the way you remember the last four years is wrong. That things were pretty darn great -- and crisis-free! -- under Trump.   McEnany is far from alone in trying to rewrite Trump's history. The former President's allies have taken to trying to memory hole all sorts of the ugliest elements of his term -- focusing most of their energy on January 6. (House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy has played a major role in trying to reframe Trump's role on that fateful day.)   The Point: McEnany's comment is no accident. It's part of a concerted effort to gaslight America about what the last four years were really like.   -- Chris QUOTE OF THE DAY "We don't want anyone to think this was a good idea." -- House Speaker Nancy Pelosi didn't mince words Wednesday about her view of two House members' clandestine trip to Afghanistan this week. Pelosi added that there is "a real concern about members being in the region." WEDNESDAY'S MUST-SEE TWEETS 1. Get the 💉, part 1 billion. And part 1 billion and 1. 2. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul tells the truth 3. What the actual hell? 4. 'Cause tramps like us, baby we were born to run 5. A very hot take on 🎃 CHRIS' GOOD READS I find David Leonhardt of The New York Times to be consistently thoughtful and insightful on the issues of the day. His piece on what we should (or even could) of done in Afghanistan is typically terrific.   Also in the Times today is this amazing account by Ben Smith of how Mexico helped get the news organization's journalists out of Afghanistan. Illinois Rep. Adam Kinzinger has received lots of national attention for his willingness to buck his own party on Donald Trump. But, as this Politico report makes clear, he may well have doomed his chances of winning reelection. There are SO many good stories to be done off of the recent release of the Census numbers. This one by the Wall Street Journal on a county in Illinois that lost more population over the last decade than any other is great.   I loved this remembrance of Stones drummer Charlie Watts by The Washington Post's Chris Richards.   I spent an hour adding a bunch of LitHub's most anticipated books of the latter half of 2021 to a list of want-to-buys for my Kindle. SO MANY GOOD BOOKS COMING. MUSICAL INTERLUDE I'm a HUGE Katie Crutchfield (aka Waxahatchee) fan. And an even bigger Woody Guthrie fan. So her cover of Guthrie's "Talking Dust Bowl Blues" is a must-listen.   -- Chris ON JAIL SENTENCES FOR CAPITOL RIOTERS When it comes to holding the January 6 US Capitol rioters to account, the Justice Department has plenty of tools in its prosecutorial toolbox -- and plenty of critics who have questioned whether they are prosecuting defendants to the fullest extent of the law. CNN's Tierney Sneed digs into why, exactly, some sentences are lighter than others.   Some of the accused rioters are facing felonies stacked upon felonies -- an assortment of obstruction, assault and theft charges, like the Pennsylvania man who's been accused of punching a police officer and stealing the officer's body camera. But dozens of others could plead guilty to misdemeanors and walk away with a slap on the wrist.   Former prosecutors and other legal experts tell CNN that the strategy makes sense, as the department should prioritize its resources on the most dangerous of the mob participants, while securing cooperation from the more peripheral rioters to help build cases against the serious offenders.   Read for more on how some misdemeanor charges help clear the decks for going after the more dangerous rioters. ONE IMMEDIATE REQUIREMENT ASAP The Pentagon is mandating that US military service members get fully vaccinated against Covid-19 immediately, now that the Food and Drug Administration has fully approved the Pfizer/BioNTech coronavirus vaccine. You are receiving this message because you subscribed to CNN's The Point with Chris Cillizza newsletter. Unsubscribe from this list Check out other CNN Newsletters Create your CNN Account Share the Point Newsletter Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up now to get The Point in your inbox.   Send your tips and thoughts via email to Chris Cillizza and Lauren Dezenski. You can follow Chris and Lauren on Twitter and connect with The Point on: Our mailing address is: One CNN Center Atlanta, GA 30303   Copyright © 2021 Cable News Network, Inc., All rights reserved.

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