Donald Trump to America: I Won, Accountability Is Over
By Jonathan Chait
January 11, 2017
1:55 p.m.
Donald Trump’s first press conference since the summer was a surreal exercise in the assertion of immunity from accountability. He either ignored questions about his behavior, or dismissed the questions as illegitimate. He painted a chilling depiction of politics not as an ongoing process but as a one-time event, settled in his favor by the presidential campaign, once and for all.
The press conference began with Press Secretary Sean Spicer attacking BuzzFeed as a “left-wing blog” (which it is not) for its questionable decision to publish an unverified dossier collected on Trump’s dealings with Russia on behalf of rival Republicans from the primary. This set the template for Trump to dismiss not only BuzzFeed’s report, but also a much more detailed and credible report by CNN (which had, but did not publish, the dossier thrown online by BuzzFeed). As the press conference went on, Trump would extend the dismissal of BuzzFeed to all skeptical news coverage.
Trump was asked about reports that intelligence agencies had concluded Russia hacked his opponents for the specific purpose of helping him win. He did not answer the question. Instead he expressed his view that having good relations with Russia would be nice, and concluded by mocking his Democratic opponent: “Do you honestly believe that Hillary would be tougher on Putin than me? Does anybody in this room really believe that? Give me a break.”
It is abnormal, to say the least, for a president-elect to defend his behavior by pivoting to a contrast with the candidate he defeated. But invoking Clinton served a purpose that became clear as the press conference drew on. It defined any question he disapproved of as a challenge to his legitimacy, and thus a campaign matter, and thus by definition moot. Asked about Senator Lindsey Graham’s proposal to introduce tougher sanctions on Russia, Trump harkened back to the campaign as well. “Lindsey Graham — I’ve been competing with him for a long time,” he said, “He is going to crack that 1 percent barrier one day. I didn’t realize Lindsey Graham is still at it.” Graham, of course, is not “still at it.” He is governing, not running against Trump. But to Trump, any action that might challenge him is indistinguishable from a contest for power.
more
http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2017/01/donald-trump-to-america-i-won-accountability-is-over.html
= new reply since forum marked as read
If that's not acting like a child, I don't know what is. 
