MEDIA WATCH: Trump's real 'scam' is keeping corporate media focused on his Celebrity Apprentice Cabinet Selection antics while continuing to push Trump Gear profits and Trump's corporate interests -- even after the election!...
The Trump "Make America Great Again" Christmas Tree ornament was one of many items being pushed for sale (for $149) by Donald Trump's campaign after the November 8 election. Above, a photograph of the ornament, which was emailed to all of Trump's contributors during the Thanksgiving weekend. "Trump Gear" is just part of the push by Donald Trump and his family to push the limits of conflicts of interest as it becomes clear that the President-elect of the United States of America doesn't intend to follow post-election ethics rules and suggestions any more than he honored ethics prior to the November 8 vote.Is a Christmas tree ornament on sale for $149 news? Or a "Trump Pence Tumbler" for $25? Well... As usual, America's corporate media was again following Donald Trump's celebrity agenda over the Thanksgiving Weekend, most recently by making a major issue of Trump's attacks on the vote recounts which will take place in Wisconsin and other states, thanks to the Green Party and its presidential candidate Jill Stein. While the broadcast news pundits were looking the other way, Trump continued to create an unprecedented circus with his Cabinet selections, and to push "Trump Gear" profits even as conflicts of interests and ethics issues were being raised weeks before the inauguration, which will take place on January 20, 2017.
There may be hundreds of more important stories about issues facing the American people across the USA, but throughout the week, cable and broadcast news reporters were camped out in front of whatever Trump property the President-elect was using to parade prospective Cabinet members past. Instead of ignoring the story until there was a story -- which actually begins when Trump announces a Cabinet pick, not when he engages in another version of "Celebrity Apprentice" -- reporters were lined up, either at Trump Tower in New York City, or at Trump's golf resorts in New Jersey and Florida.
And if there were a story that might actually be the beginning of a years-long scandal involving Trump's profiting from the Presidency, it began in November 2016 as Trump's campaign apparatus continued its work, this time peddling what it's "Trump Gear" for sale to the public. The newest piece in that line of products from Trump is the Donald Trump Christmas Tree ornament, which was announced for sale during Thanksgiving week.
But there was no mention in corporate broadcast news of those looming scandals, while Trump made typically loud noises against the vote recounts which will now take place. Typical of corporate news was the following:
NBC NEWS Story...
President-elect Donald Trump on Saturday ripped what he termed a "scam" effort from Green Party nominee Jill Stein aimed at requesting recounts in Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania.
In a statement labeling the recount request "ridiculous," Trump said "the people have spoken and the election is over."
"And as Hillary Clinton herself said on election night, in addition to her conceding by congratulating me, 'We must accept this result and then look to the future,'" Trump said.
Trump highlighted the fact he won the vast majority of battleground states, total states, and the more than 2,600 counties in the country.
"This recount is just a way for Jill Stein, who received less than 1% of the vote overall and wasn't even on the ballot in many states, to fill her coffers with money, most of which she will never even spend on this ridiculous recount," he said. "All three states were won by large numbers of voters, especially Pennsylvania, which was won by more than 70,000 votes."
"This is a scam by the Green Party for an election that has already been conceded, and the results of this election should be respected instead of being challenged and abused, which is exactly what Jill Stein is doing," he continued.
Stein, along with another third-party candidate, filed petitions in Wisconsin on Friday to conduct a recount in the state, where Trump narrowly beat Clinton by roughly 30,000 votes. Stein has also been raising money for potential challenges in Michigan, where Trump appears to have won by just more than 10,000 votes, and in Pennsylvania, Trump won by roughly 70,000 votes.
The Green Party nominee came under fire after asking for additional money after her first goal of $2 million was surpassed earlier this week, claiming she now needed as much as $7 million to successfully push for a recount.
The Clinton campaign on Saturday said it would participate in the recount despite not finding any "actionable evidence" of hacking or attempts to "alter voting technology."
"We had not planned to exercise this option ourselves, but now that a recount has been initiated in Wisconsin, we intend to participate in order to ensure the process proceeds in a manner that is fair to all sides," Elias wrote.
