Pennsylvania Rep claims Trump was "teasing," asserts fact-checkers don't know facts

NPR ran a piece this morning with Pennsylvania Rep Tom Marino, an early and vocal Trump supporter, no matter how catastrophically disastrous his campaign has become.

In an extremely rare move, commentator Steve Inskeep actually asked a question of a Republican, complete with a follow up! He queried Marino about Trump's refusal to state whether he'll accept the election results, and Marino opined that Trump was "teasing," that Trump would certainly accept the results. This is a declaration of faith with no real-world justification, yet Marino seemed to say it with a straight face.

Inskeep pressed the point: is this a preview of a reality-show Trump presidency, with Trump "teasing" the American people and requiring his supporters to explain his position after the fact?

Marino dismissed the question, insisting that Trump will be a great president.

Thereafter Inskeep touched on Trump's mantra that the election is rigged, specifically citing Trump's warning to "watch Philadelphia." Inskeep asked if Philadelphia is a concern, and Marino repeated the party line that voter fraud is rampant and that we must always be vigilant against it.

Marino tried to make hay about Clinton "dogding questions," and Inskeep countered that fact-checkers had confirmed that her response was correct. "Fact checkers," Marino scoffed, unimpressed.

The piece was all the more striking because it followed yet another of NPR's zero-value "what do these four voters think?" segments, limply hosted by David Greene. The intent of those "reports" is to foster the impression that Trump and Clinton are equally supported and that the country as a whole can't make up its mind. It's garbage pseudo-journalism, very close to the worst offerings I've heard from NPR in the 15 years I've been listening.


Inskeep himself isn't usually too impressive, but he deserves credit in this case for calling out Republican bullshit.