Trump; "It’s all about one thing ratings"

[@margueritepeaden3445]

I did not watch him when he was on the Apprentice because i thought he was despicable then. Now after what he’s done to my country I definitely would not watch.

[@UnashamedCaliforniagirl]

I never cared for the guy and hadn't even heard of the apprentice until he ran for office.

[@SingingOwl1]

I watched once, out of curiosity. That was more than enough.

[@catdaddy8603]

I've heard enough about his despicable behavior for at least a few decades to know I will always vote against him.

[@marionopisso212]

As a wily conman it's obvious that Trump has no allegiance to anything but the bottom line, profit.

[@gmbenz2482]

False profits!

[@andrevdwesthuizen6132]

To us....phaps. NOT the cult though...

[@marionopisso212]

​@@andrevdwesthuizen6132True, the Maga cult has been deluded.

[@marionopisso212]

​@@gmbenz2482 😅 ❤

[@marionopisso212]

​@@andrevdwesthuizen6132Sadly the Magas have been deluded.

[@BigFish0047]

He talks about sharks and how bad America is. Then he belittles everyone while he claims everything he does is “perfect”. Who wants to hear this crap?

[@SingingOwl1]

It says something really disturbing, doesn’t it?

[@glorialewis8227]

Thanks, Rev. Ed. Exactly, he says what people want to hear and so do his enablers. Too bad half of America is too brainwashed to understand. He gives them permission to say hateful, vile things. I know this is true because l have family members who go to church on Sundays and treat people they consider “others” abominably the rest of the week.

[@donaldwert7137]

I was coming to say something very like this, but you said it much better than I could. Thank you.

[@terryhenderson424]

Oh you mean they use "discernment" outside the church pew?

[@user-to9vd7bf5v]

What is sad is that if a true follower of Christ would never be voted into power - they would never get the ratings 🇨🇦🙁😔

[@jadeekelgor2588]

Jimmy Carter was elected president. He has always been a good kind Christian man who witnessed to the world in his campaign and presidency.

[@jadeekelgor2588]

DJT is only serving himself and his own id.

[@daynakravets6584]

Never cared for what they say Never cared for games they play Never cared for what they do Never cared for what they know ~Nothing Else Matters~

[@gulfmarine8857]

I wouldn't tune in if they paid me.

[@DollyMiddleton-ke1yp]

Love not hate. Truth not lies. Inclusion not otherism. Stay in Jesus’s orbit.

[@robbylock1741]

The News/Entertainment branches of the various outlets gave up reporting the news long ago once the 7x24 hour "reporting" became a thing. This goes beyond Trump! How sad :(

[@celeditomorales7824]

We ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️you rev

[@thereasonwhy108]

You are so right! Covid was the perfect example of why ratings don't work it a health emergency. Remember how Trump tried to tell everybody it was just "going to go away". He just wanted to tell people what they wanted to hear and it led to disaster. Now I understand why Trump said what he said, he just wanted to be loved, how pathetic.

[@angryspork610]

Specifically, what makes it pathetic, is that he [always] wanted to be loved for everything he *isn't*: smart, compassionate, strong, wise, capable, ethical, moral, effective, and flawless. Because he knows he'll never be loved for what he is.

[@BookkeeperJeff]

What he didn't want is a total freak out. He certainly failed at that. Unfortunately, the efforts of our corrupt establishment, and propaganda media, to freighten the bejesus out of the left was very effective.

[@UnashamedCaliforniagirl]

I never trust anyone who tells me exactly what I want to hear.

[@davidrada241]

Don't confuse your net worth with your self worth. In the same vein, don't confuse popularity with true friendships and those who love you.

[@UnashamedCaliforniagirl]

Amen to that ❤

[@HenriettaHudson-we4wv]

IKR???

[@peacheswilliams4539]

It tells me that MONEY is what networks are concerned about, it doesn't matter WHAT he would do to hurt the COUNTRY. (ratings =money)

[@sundayoliver3147]

It's also helpful to remember that, in the US, the great bulk of mainstream media is now owned by about 6 corporations, headed by very very wealthy oligarchs who want tax breaks and deregulation, as well as the money from views and clicks.

[@WilliamRoop-xt6rp]

A line from an older country song: "If you don't stand for something thing, you'll fall for everything" comes to mind.

[@UnashamedCaliforniagirl]

Aaron Tippin ❤one of my all time favorite songs ❤

[@brianmarcum8306]

Amen!

[@garyrechter1843]

Ratings equal dollars. It's all about the Benjamins!

[@celeditomorales7824]

Keep bringing the truth

[@catdaddy8603]

For trump, it's about ratings. Not about decency, truth, compassion or fairness.

[@maryburrell3948]

Yes it is mentally exhausting. It makes my soul sick. And I am frightened.

[@sharonharris9782]

I am also frightened.

[@howardcohen6817]

Let's see to it that we are not this way. You give me hope against fright, Mary. Love.

[@HenriettaHudson-we4wv]

DON'T BE SCARED - BE PREPARED!!!

[@ad-dx9gi]

Rev Ed this was a well needed discussion. We as customers of Media must have common sense in Information were getting..Its about ratings , You have your basic News witch is news. then you have pundits, analysis and opinions talk shows , Experts talking issues, Its Entertainment.. God Bless 🕊️

[@HenriettaHudson-we4wv]

MY TV WILL STAY OFF UNLESS THERE'S BREAKING NEWS THAT TRUMP HAS PERMANENTLY LEFT THE BUILDING!!!!

[@tcam2352]

I was always told to stay away from carnival barkers. Heehee

[@davidroberts9037]

You are 100% correct

[@gordonmills2748]

Can confirm. I worked in the media for most of my career, including one of the big 3-letter legacy media companies. The only thing they care about is ratings and revenue. Do you know why John McCain was such a prominent presence on the cable talk shows? In the aftermath of 9/11, I had to edit a lot of interviews with experts and politicians, and it was a challenge to cut them down to "sound bites." Not with McCain. He spoke in easy, 30-40 second sound bites. I talked to someone who worked on his campaign and she said "oh, that's intentional. That's a skill he learned through practice." That's what made him a popular guest. He made it easy to get ratings and revenue.

[@KingoftheJuice18]

2400 years ago Socrates discussed this unhealthy aspect of our regime: In a democracy popularity rules, not virtue.

[@DollyMiddleton-ke1yp]

Listen to his ramblings on the snake poem. He loves it. It’s creepy. He is running to keep himself out of jail, end of story.

[@kevinjohnson7839]

Amen 🙏

[@rog3129]

Amen.

[@sandyzalecki1145]

I know this, character and morals make no difference anymore.

[@c1886]

Amen do what's right

[@rdlewis3616]

The movie “Network” spoke to the ratings issue way back in the 70s.

[@ad-dx9gi]

That movie had a famous quote "I made as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore"

[@LimeyRedneck]

💯 🤠💜

[@junerussell6972]

Trump is definitely doing that. But RFK Jr. is also doing it (and trying to avoid letting his followers know his true ideas.) One of the things I like about Biden is that he actually does *work* for what he says he is going to work for. He has exceeded my expectations. He seems to be willing to suffer with "good trouble."

[@maryburrell3948]

I think President Biden has done a good job as President. I will support him in November. Seeing how all the media wants to talk about is his age. Trump is three years younger and he’s old too. And he’s a felon, and a sex predator, and he instigated an insurrection and wanted his Vice President hung. I don’t understand the insanity that is happening that a large portion of the country wants him back in office. America has gone insane.

[@timothymalone7067]

It’s more a reflection on our society that people no longer seems to care about what is true.

[@HenriettaHudson-we4wv]

THANK YOU!!!

[@Grandpa_Boxer]

It's ALWAYS about the money!! Pick your entity. "I alone can fool the masses." D. Trump (educated on the Apprentice)

[@UnashamedCaliforniagirl]

He can only fool those who want to be fooled

[@sciencefirst7880]

All politicians say what the people want to hear! That is their JOB!!!

[@UnashamedCaliforniagirl]

That is why I don't trust any of them

[@howardcohen6817]

Its easier than listening to what we are saying or empathizing with our pain. I'm a victim - send me money. Love.

[@DollyMiddleton-ke1yp]

Yes ratings/ money but Rev Trevor is a truth teller. There’s the difference.

[@howardcohen6817]

Yes, he is. I gave him a thumbs up, anyway! Love.

[@lolowilderkind]

I need to be more careful with my eyeballs!

[@howardcohen6817]

me, too. Love.

[@gabriellebeverly7604]

Thank you!

[@DoubleOld7]

That's what I don't understand the most. Trump already showed us the pudding in his first term, yet people STILL want him back.

[@user-ly7np5rm5c]

👍💯

[@reneeparker7475]

Correction, Trump is all about rating AND himself

[@johnhammons679]

Be a follower of Jesus Christ!

[@VoteBlue4Freedom]

Amen

[@terryhenderson424]

While not related in terms of importance, i am so over the local media tailoring thier weather reports to gather likes!

[@contrafax]

He could be good, he could be evil...this popped in my head. "I could be brown, I could be blue, I could be violet sky I could be hurtful, I could be purple, I could be anything you like"

[@HenriettaHudson-we4wv]

THAT'S BEEN TRUMP'S MODUS OPERANDI FOR 78 YEARS!!!!!

[@c1886]

Your right he just saying what you want to hear. Its all about making money for him and get out of trouble

[@UnashamedCaliforniagirl]

This is why I quit watching tv except KZbin 😂

[@joemanly9519]

Exactly correct.

[@michelegyselinck5400]

Some people are already looking for that, what they want to hear. Why do you think someone says to a preacher that the gospel is weak if they’re not looking for what they want to hear?

[@angryspork610]

After one time (of many) where I pointed out on Twitter, that ratings are not the same as facts, someone claimed the opposite, that "they get high ratings because the tell the truth." By this logic, "Friends" must've been a documentary. No, it's just playing on the tribal mentality, the desire people have for a sense of belonging. And with the likes of Tucker Carlson, Jack Posobiec, Charlie Kirk, Nick Fuentes--I could go on--they're packaging it with the idea that anyone "not like you" in some way, is the enemy, that enemy is actively coming for you, and they intend to destroy you. That's how we get mass shootings and riots. Dangerous indeed.

[@UnashamedCaliforniagirl]

Men who actually tell the truth are usually hated for it. So that reasoning makes no sense.

[@frankcostello2973]

truth matters

[@yabits]

Not having foresight, had zero clue that Rev. Ed would be mentioning the prophet Micah in a following video. When I saw this one, I was tempted to respond -- but held off for some reason known only to the Lord. For some reason, this video caused me to go back and review the four chapters of the prophet Jonah -- with guidance in Hebrew, from a rabbi. What an amazing story. In the first few verses, the Lord appears to Jonah and tells him to go to Nineveh -- a gentile pagan city!! -- and tell them to change their ways, or else they will be destroyed. That in itself is mind-blowing. But does Jonah go? NO!! In my best Eric Cartman voice, he says "Screw you, I'm going home." But he doesn't go home, but gets on a boat to get away as FAR from Nineveh as he can. Some questions here: 1) What makes a prophet hearing directly from the Lord make him think that he can openly defy the command? ... and 2) ... "What makes him think he can get away with it?" Side note: The book of Jonah is read in synagogues on the most solemn day in the Jewish year: Yom Kippur. Shalom.

[@helenalderson6608]

I remember one of our leaders relating a story of his mother's church (some different denomination) looking for a new minister. They lived in Las Vegas, so they wanted a minister that didn't preach too much about the evils of gambling.

[@marionopisso212]

That would be a funny event, if it wasn't t so pathetic!

[@PhecdaPlato]

❤ Ratings … capitalism and fame. Makes people do some very bizzare and selfish things.

[@gulfmarine8857]

Reverend Ed. Please promote Texas state rep Talarico

[@maryburrell3948]

Talarico is great in exposing white evangelical nationalism.

[@sharonharris9782]

​@@maryburrell3948I noticed you stated in another post that you are frightened. I am too Mary. I just wanted you to know that you're not alone.

[@maryburrell3948]

@@sharonharris9782 This is how Hitler came into power in Nazi Germany. I am voting in November like I always do. But it’s important people vote locally in their cities.

[@tcam2352]

Thanks Rev Ed! Good connection of politics and Jesus. Have you seen rep James tallericos sermons? He's from TX and is also good in tying religion and politics, the right way!

[@tanyawilliams8254]

❤

[@lilianfowler7988]

I stopped watching "Survivor" a long time ago. I would never watch trump.

[@belanteomero]

When he was a young man, 45 learned "at the knees" of two notable influencers: his father and Roy Cohn. He especially learned to bully, to lie, to play with people's emotions, to cheat, to exact revenge, etc. from Cohn. Cohn worked for 45. Reading about how mentored 45 in the ways of evil sends chills down one's spine. 45 is notorious for saying what is expedient and what's expected despite the constant misfiring of his brain synapses.

[@HenriettaHudson-we4wv]

MATTHEW 24:5 - FOR MANY WILL COME IN MY NAME, SAYING, "I AM THE CHRIST", AND WILL DECEIVE MANY!!!

[@noheroespublishing1907]

The movie "Network" predicted this.

[@whoaaanelly65]

Way better similie, Cesar, not David. Beginning today... I will now forever see the former guy standing on the white house lawn watching America burn...

[@HenriettaHudson-we4wv]

ANTHONY "THE MOOCH" SCARAMUCCI SAID THAT TRUMP WILL IMPLODE BY NOVEMBER!!! WHAT HAPPENED YESTERDAY WAS THE START OF IT!!!!

[@AlsanPine]

lol, have not watched tv for decades. the reason our "leaders" tell us what we want to hear is that most of us are arrogant enough, selfish enough, short sighted enough, and ignorant enough to choose our politicians superficially. never mind that it keeps not working. we keep doing the same thing, expecting different results. indeed, we are omnipotent in ignorance!

[@Simmons8519]

Consuder that when you're saying, "Trump says whatever the people want him to say," he says some of the most vile and hateful things imaginable... what does that say about the people who support him? Worse yet, you said Trump isn't a republican... but if he has followers who support him, can his supporters be said to be Republicans, or is Trump the true face of what it means to be a Republican now?

[@ad-dx9gi]

Trump is definitely a modern Maga Republican,, The Republicans have evolved to the kaos there in now..There out of touch..

[@marionopisso212]

Trump is whatever way the wind blows, among the groups that interest him for gain.

[@sundayoliver3147]

Given the performance of Republican Congress and Senate members, I'd say it's pretty safe to assume that all Rs are MAGA. And that includes Liz Cheney, who voted for MAGA 93% of the time when she was in the Senate. To be fair, I understand that many of the Rs who are older-school receive daily death threats for themselves and their families from MAGA followers, if they don't fall in line.

[@frankcostello2973]

good message the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil, and they lose their soul to gain ratings

[@rkoff5744]

The bar is only as low as we have set. 🙈🙉🙊

[@mandelharvey3429]

Entertainer and chief. Whatever you think about him as a president, most can admit that he's the greatest phenomenon in the history of entertainment. The greatest entertainer of all time. He doesn't sing. He doesn't dance. He moves a crowd better than any English speaking person in the history of televised news. Maybe stalin or hitler or queen Victoria or George Washington were this.

[@SingingOwl1]

I have never found him entertaining.

[@courtjoseph2008]

Boycott CNN. NBC, MSNBC and all other mainstream media, and get everyone else to do so. He's absolutely right, it's all about the ratings!

[@dp0004]

It's also about the dollars. An inanimate object made up of 010010100010111s. A valued empty vessel. It's not water or food.

[@bryanhendricks1391]

Padre, as an American Episcopalian who is deeply opposed to everything Trump stands for, I will say the unpopular thing. I was disappointed by the fact it was a miss. Not gonna lie about it. I will not put out false sympathies for a man I do feel the world is better off without. Having said that, on a human level I am glad his family didn't lose him .....even if he is clearly a psychopathic narcissist. He still has a teenage kid and grand kids. But I'm more saddened by the failure than I am saddened that it happened. I guess that makes me a psychopath too....or maybe someone not over his anger at how corrosive that Trump has been for my country.

[@monikarathbone3478]

he is giving what they wanted to hear - not what they nrrd to succeed - thats entertaiment, yes it is sad - watch #ResistanceLive to get the urgencu of the moment - truth is tough but you know whatyou have to deal with

[@theresafinn4257]

He makes false promises for ratings.

[@rosemaryporter5771]

Bible says... Words can bring life or death....

[@tbabbittt]

Im tired of his supporters trying to say that the president controls the free market. This is the same thing as saying that the president makes the rain fall.

[@howardcohen6817]

The president controls the flea-market?

[@SingingOwl1]

Yes, the supposed liberal, leftist media has been a big amplifier of Trump. And now they are all piling on Biden. I’m old and I miss Walter Cronkite.

[@howardcohen6817]

Every other word is an amplification. Even when they interview somebody they first ask about 45 and then what their thoughts are concerning 46's age. Then they pull out some opinion-poll and ask about that. Then they ask about the interviewee's feelings about crime and violence against police etc. They seldom ask, "What are the statistics on crime in your state? What do you think are the contributing factors to this?"

[@trudycolborne2371]

It's like with Project 2025. He doesn't know anything about it but he disagrees with parts of it. Which parts? He won't say because you should assume it's what you disagree with. His favourite Bible verse, same. He's going to fix the American family, how? However you think. It's the way a confidence man operates. If you don't see it then you're the mark.

[@terryhenderson424]

Yrumps's policy, positions, and decisions have been steered by others since 2015 at least.

[@Uriel238]

_When a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measure,_ so says Goodheart's law. It's a problem that belies the weakness of both democracy and capitalism. Hamilton, when writing _The Federalist Papers_ admitted he believed US voters would be rational and would vote in their own best interests, which also implies they _know_ what their best interests are. Hence, nearly two-and-a-half centuries later, political campaigning is all about ways to _manipulate_ the voters, either to vote for your guy, or at least not vote against him. Curiously Trump needs less to appeal to a wider base than he needs to dissuade democrats from voting at all, hence the GOP focus on gerrymandering, voter suppression, intimidation and instilling confusion. It's why -- should we ever get voter reform or a new Constitution of the United States -- we might want to avoid first-past-the-post voting systems. If we do have a vote, it should use a transferable vote system, and an office remains vacant until someone gets more than a minimum percentage of the population (say, half of all registered voters, or a third of the adult population -- I'm guessing here.) But then, we'd get a way better selection of officials by pure sortition, drafting people by lottery from all those who are adults who qualify. But yes, when we depend on popularity, it means we campaign based on populist notions and we market popular items. Left-handers like me have to live with ambidextrous computer input devices or live with right-handed stuff. Food is engineered to taste good even if it's not actually nutritious. Everything is made for low-cost, at the expense of resource renewability and good treatment of workers. (Although -- a personal gripe -- it's common to treat workers poorly despite studies that well-treated workers have an elevated productivity that exceeds the cost. I think our ownership class just likes to assert dominance by being cruel.) My experience in becoming atheist has been confronting bad news and coming to terms with it: I am, in fact, _not_ the protagonist in God's story. No guardian angels watch over me, or my kin, or my community, or my society. Or my species. If I am fired, rendered homeless and die of sickness and starvation, that's just the way things go. It sucks. It's awful. It's tragic, but only the community cares, or no one does, and nature teems with critters to dine on my carcass. If our society, driven to addiction to fossil fuels and beef drives global warming to where the earth can only sustain a billion people, or 100,000, or less than 1000, there is no divinity to either nip that path in the bud, or save us before things get critical. And when we're gone, the universe won't even notice. Acknowledging this stuff is straight-out cosmic horror, right there. It also puts the onus on us as a cooperative species to get our ducks in a row and figure out how to sustain ourselves despite our simplicity. I don't know the answer, but Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal imagined gamifying cooperative behavior, so people engaged in kindness and mutual aid and communist efforts for the points rather than with consequences in mind, noting that if it works, it works. In fact, it takes more energy to regard problems and matters with reason than based on feelings. I'm pretty sure billionaires seeking more profit is a _fixed action activity_ the way brown warblers will raise a cuckoo chick from sheer instinct. I'm sure accepting our neighbors with love, even when they're New Jerseyites visiting in California, takes effort, and it's a fixed action pattern to assume that people who speak with strange dialects and have strange customs teem with disease and bad spirits and we should chase them off. (As the COVID-19 epidemic showed us, sometimes those instincts are at least half right.) It's on us, as a society and a species to transcend those fixed action patterns when they don't serve how we survive and cooperate against the elements in a modern world. But again, I don't know how to do that. It's another fine mess we've gotten ourselves into, and I don't know how to navigate the imminent great filters. But I'm pretty sure it's entirely up to us whether we do or don't. *Edit:* Draft pass, for clarity and style... and formatting

[@user-qj8uc4tb8n]

Lots of churches work that way, particularly among US Evangelicals---better music, better events, better whatever people want--bring people into the pews. The quality of the religion matters less than the entertainment. It's sheep-stealing, but it works.

[@ericbicknell7231]

I've come to the conclusion that we all, in one way or another, have itchy ears. We all want to hear someone say what we want to hear. What we need is discernment. We need to have Holy Spirit reveal to us what of what we hear is in accordance with what Jesus taught us. People fall for what they hear because they can't see that it isn't in line with what Jesus taught... they can't see where it violates "Love God; Love Others." If you preach what people need to hear, they won't know if its right or not if they don't have discernment. And they won't take it to heart if they are not open to the moving of Holy Spirit.

[@melindaunknown6411]

For 20+ years Trump didn’t claim to be a republican. He said he favored democrat policies more. He said he donated to both parties to gain favor by whichever one won a race. He was covering his behind. He also knows how to bleed donations from his followers. When he posts things like military tribunals for Liz Cheney, he gets a jolt of donations. Grifter thru and thru.

[@peterblock6964]

You're absolutely correct that donald is only about ratings and reactions. he used to be a Democrat, but democrats are too multi-dimensional to pull off his style of b.s. With the Republicans there is a much bigger base of single issue voters that are easily manipulated. It is up to the average person to evolve spiritually and not be so one-dimensional. The time for exceptional or even just charismatic individuals to be idolized is OVER. Exceptional individuals, ESPECIALLY when it comes to spiritual development, should be seen as the template, the new standard for all to reach for. As long as the average person stops at finding an exceptional individual to FOLLOW, or at least to confirm the religious organization they represent, the average person will continue to be manipulated and used. The average religious person is like an obese person who eats & drinks nothing but junk food in large quantities but has a favorite individual who is the perfect example of health and fitness that they "follow." And then does NOTHING substantial to become healthy and fit themselves. THIS CAN NOT CONTINUE. When you find a spiritual leader who has integrity and is inspiring then do whatever you're capable of to emulate them. This doesn't mean copy their clothing style, hair style, makeup style, putting their picture on your 'altar,' etc. It means take their inspiration and become a spiritual person of integrity yourself. The external form that takes won't just be a copy/paste of the leader. Rather it will be a unique expression of YOUR own unique soul. Speaking of obese people who eat & drink nothing but junk food and spew nothing but verbal vomit: donald the trump. That's not the example to emulate and certainly not the example to blindly worship-no matter how "entertaining" he is.

[@FreddieVee]

I don't like being pandered to. I guess that's one of the reasons why I dislike Donald Trump.

[@UnashamedCaliforniagirl]

Donald Trump has NEVER been a conservative 😂

[@andrevdwesthuizen6132]

To systemites. Yes. But, NOT to HE who commissioned us.

[@johannasaninocencio7458]

All I can think of is the song “Give the People What they Want” by the Kinks. So dangerous. We need people with discernment. 😢

[@Skycouncil_Sentinel_777]

trump serves his own ego, pure selfishness. Remind you or someone who put themselves above God?

[@kathielowrey2609]

I don't usually disagree with you, Ed, but I think MSNBC is the wrong example. Not too long ago, MSNBC hired Rona McDaniel, who was a conservative until she devolved into MAGAism, but the network bosses reneged on the contract quickly after pushback from their hosts. Perhaps CNN is a better example. That said, your point that Trump is only going for rating is right on! His entire focus is on nothing but a reality show revolving around his ego.

[@DonaMacPherson]

You must suffer to come to God just ask mother Theresa look it up

[@sundayoliver3147]

I'm not sure that's a legit truth, and I say this from both experience and observation. Can we come closer to the divine through suffering? Yes, but it doesn't always happen, it's a choice, and not an easy one. Can we come closer to the divine through enjoyment? Yes, easily, but somehow it's the suffering that gets advertised more, when heading toward enjoyment when possible would make such a better world.

[@lordvoldamort4606]

You've read too much into it.

[@sharonharris9782]

How?

[@lordvoldamort4606]

@@sharonharris9782 When Donald Trump is doing television he's doing television. When he's doing the presidency he's doing precidency. The two don't have to mix.