According to MSNBC host Rachel Maddow, President Donald Trump's latest moves all share the same goal: Keeping Americans distracted from the ongoing fallout over his administration's handling of unreleased documents pertaining to convicted sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.

In an atypical Friday night broadcast (the longtime host hasn't had a regular weekly show since the end of Trump's first 100 days), Maddow used her opening monologue to argue that the president's distraction agenda is coming off as increasingly desperate. She touched on how Trump has quietly withdrawn appointees to key government positions, and not announced replacements — as he did with former Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) commissioner nominee E.J. Antoni last month. And she pointed out that despite the BLS having the ability to publish a September jobs report despite the shutdown, it had not done so.

Maddow also observed that, 17 days into a government shutdown, Trump has yet to broker a deal to extend Affordable Care Act (ACA) subsidies due to expire at the end of the year that Democrats have all agreed are a necessity to gain their support in reopening the government. She noted that should the ACA tax credits not be extended, people in Republican-dominated states would be on the hook for the biggest health insurance premium increases.

The MSNBC host then pivoted to Trump announcing Friday that he was commuting the sentence of disgraced former Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.), who was expelled from Congress in 2023. Santos was serving an 87-month sentence after being convicted of wire fraud and aggravated identity theft.

"So clearlythat's a president operatingfrom a position of strength, right?" Maddow said while laughing. "This is what he wants tobe known for. I mean, his onlymoves right now are bigdistraction moves. We're in day17 of a government shutdown.He's refusing to release thejobs data or the inflation dataabout what he's doing to thecountry's economy, while allthe private sector data that wehave to look to, to try tounderstand those things, isterrible."

"His paramilitary andwould-be military assault onhis own people in citiesacross the country is beingpushed back: Not only on everystreet corner where he's tryingit, but in every courtroomwhere he's trying to get awaywith it — including in front ofjudges he himself appointed," she continued. "Heis pulling out all the laststops he can to try desperatelyto avoid the Epstein disaster he is still mired in. He isquietly, quietly pulling hisnominees and hoping no onenotices, and asks why thehealth care policy on which the Democrats are totally unifiedand taking their stand againsthim, is about to be a full-blown economic disaster forliterally tens of millions of American families."

"He is 24 pointsunderwater in his job approval,24 points," she added. "And his big idea tochange the subject is to free America's comedic poster childfor compulsive lying andstealing. I mean, for asupposed strong man, this isall pretty weak, right?"

Watch the segment below:


- YouTubewww.youtube.com

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