'Dark MAGA': White House dims lights after Trump's trouncing

Let it be said that President Donald Trump’s people know how to put on a show

New York Times reporter Chris Cameron noted that The White House “turned down the lights for President Trump’s news conference on Friday after the Supreme Court decision that struck down his sweeping tariffs,” as if in response to the president’s smoldering mood.

Cameron cited White House spokesman Steven Cheung saying in a social media post that “President Trump will not be stopped.” His post highlighted the shadowy lighting, which Cheung described as the tonal shift “Dark MAGA.”

The tactic might be a throwback to former President Joe Biden attempt to invoke an atmosphere of seriousness and warning, as he did when he sought to paint “a dark portrait of a democracy on the brink.”

Speaking outside Independence Hall in Philadelphia, Cameron recalled Biden’s stage and the hall being darkly lit, with Biden flanked by “Marine guards silhouetted in shadow against the building.”

“The dim stage lights were colored blue and red, invoking the American flag, but the lights surrounding Mr. Biden himself were a foreboding, shadowy red,” said Cameron. “The image was ominous. To Mr. Biden’s allies, it effectively conveyed a sense of urgency and signaled a deviation from Mr. Biden’s usual message encouraging bipartisanship and political compromise. To Mr. Biden’s critics, it was divisive, alarming, even authoritarian.”

Cameron said Trump’s lighting might also have been an attempt to invoke Biden’s “dark Brandon” motif.

“By the time of Mr. Biden’s speech in September 2022, the Biden White House had begun leaning into the meme, posting images of the president with glowing eyes that shoot laser beams. After the midterms, the president’s re-election campaign began selling ‘Dark Brandon’ coffee mugs,” said Cameron.

from Alternet.org https://ift.tt/xgP329i
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