From the midweek edition of the Morning Jolt:
Prominent Progressive Belatedly Realizes He Has a Trump Address
Imagine how mortifying it must be to be an outspoken progressive leader, well-known for your furious denunciations of those who dare to defy the Left or show disrespect to President Obama, and everyone learns you live… in the Trump Palace in New York City.
Yes, this is the embarrassment that faced Keith Olbermann, the temperamental news and sports anchor formerly of MSNBC, formerly of Current, formerly of ESPN, formerly of … well, you get the idea.
In March – March! – Olbermann declared he couldn’t stand to live in the Trump property anymore because “because of the degree to which the very name ‘Trump’ has degraded the public discourse and the nation itself.”
According to the Wall Street Journal, Olbermann bought the roughly 1,750-square-foot condo for $4.2 million in 2007.
It was back in 2011 that Trump was demanding to see President Obama’s birth certificate, and suggesting that either Obama wasn’t born in the United States or that there was “something on that birth certificate that he doesn’t like.” Despite Trump’s embrace of a claim that the former MSNBC anchor no doubt finds ridiculous, racially incendiary, and an abominable smear, Olbermann stayed in Trump Palace.
In 2012, Trump offered $5 million if Obama would release his college applications and transcripts and releases his passport history. Olbermann stayed in Trump Palace.
In 2013, in an interview with ABC News, Trump continued to doubt the authenticity of Obama’s birth certificate: “Was there a birth certificate? You tell me. Some people say that was not his birth certificate. I’m saying I don’t know. Nobody knows.” Olbermann stayed in Trump Palace.
In 2014, Trump asserted there was a connection between vaccinations and autism: “If I were President I would push for proper vaccinations but would not allow one time massive shots that a small child cannot take – AUTISM.” Olbermann stayed in Trump Palace.
In June 2015, announcing his campaign, Trump said, “When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best. They’re not sending you. They’re not sending you. They’re sending people that have lots of problems, and they’re bringing those problems with us. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists. And some, I assume, are good people.” Olbermann stayed in Trump Palace.
In November 2015, Trump suggested that a protesters at his rallies “maybe should have been roughed up” for his protest. Also that month, he said he would consider closing mosques as president, and that he was open to ideas such as tracking Muslim Americans in a database or noting their religious affiliations on identification cards. Olbermann stayed in Trump Palace.
In December 2015, Trump called for a ban on Muslims entering the country. Olbermann stayed in Trump Palace.
To his credit, Olbermann can poke fun at himself: “There could still be enough idiots to elect Trump this November. Hell, I was stupid enough to move into one of his buildings.”
Olbermann is listing the condo for $3.9 million, significantly less than his purchase price in 2007.
This morning, Olbermann tells the tale of Trump making some obnoxious jokes about former Trump condo owner Derek Jeter right after the great Yankees shortstop broke his ankle in 2012. He never quite explains why, if Trump was so obviously abominable, gratuitously cruel, and generally the living, breathing epitome of everything Olbermann can’t stand for all those years, why he continued to live in the Trump Palace.