2d ago

Interviewer claps back at DHS Secretary Kristi Noem after she says Americans 'can't trust the government': 'You are the government!'

www.latintimes.com Interviewer Claps Back at DHS Secretary Kristi Noem After She Says Americans 'Can't Trust the Government': 'You Are the Government!'

CNN anchor Dana Bash reminded the Trump-appointed Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem that she is the government during a confounding exchange on Sunday.

Summary

DHS Secretary Kristi Noem claimed on CNN that Americans "can't trust our government anymore," acknowledging distrust while defending Elon Musk’s access to sensitive federal data.

When host Dana Bash pointed out, "You are the government," Noem agreed but claimed that Musk is authorized to help find government inefficiencies.

She downplayed concerns over his access to Social Security and federal student loan data, insisting the audit is necessary.

25 comments

claps back
slams
blasts
The sooner this kind of phraseology disappears from media the better. Any outlet using it has become a clickbait shitrag.
- Idk I think we should lean in. If politicians are going to be treated like sports, let's make some trading cards with the senators stats on them. /s
  
  I want it to be like NASCAR, with the sponsors being plastered all over their shirts. "Here comes the newest senator on the scene whose biggest sponsors include Big oil, big medicine and Russia!!"
  
  You joke, but GPT comes up with some bangers for UK politicians...
  .
  UK Politicians Trading Card Game
  A satirical take on British politics, styled like a mix between trading cards and Cards Against Humanity.
  John Prescott – Trading Card
  Card Title: "Two Jags, One Punch"
  Type: Labour Tank
  Power: 9/10
  Charisma: 5/10
  Policy Success: 6/10
  Scandal Factor: 7/10
  Verbal Clarity: 2/10
  .
  Special Ability: "The Left Hook of Justice"
  Once per game, if an opponent plays a hostile media card, Prescott may respond with a Swift Uppercut, instantly negating the attack and leaving journalists dazed.
  Quote:
  "The Green Belt is a Labour initiative and we intend to build on it."
  Flavour Text:
  A heavyweight in both politics and physical altercations, Prescott served as Tony Blair’s deputy and made headlines for his blunt approach to diplomacy—particularly when it involved egg-wielding protesters. He was famous for his commitment to public transport… while owning two Jaguars. :::
  Tony Blair – Trading Card
  Card Title: "Cool Britannia's War Criminal"
  Type: Labour Messiah (Corrupted Form)
  Power: 8/10
  Charisma: 10/10
  Policy Success: 9/10
  Scandal Factor: 9/10
  Trustworthiness: -3/10
  .
  Special Ability: "Weapons of Mass Distraction"
  If an opponent plays a Bad Press or Public Inquiry card, Blair may redirect all attention onto a vague existential threat, completely avoiding consequences for one turn.
  Quote:
  "Look, what we have to understand is… (proceeds to dodge the question for 15 minutes)"
  Flavour Text:
  Once hailed as the saviour of the Labour Party, Blair modernised Britain with a grin, a soundbite, and a suspiciously close friendship with George W. Bush. His legacy is a cocktail of public service reforms, spin-doctoring, and a certain little invasion that we swear was justified at the time.
  David Cameron – Trading Card
  Card Title: "The Pig Whisperer"
  Type: Tory Toff
  Power: 6/10
  Charisma: 7/10
  Policy Success: 5/10
  Scandal Factor: 8/10
  Competence: 4/10
  .
  Special Ability: "Referendumb"
  If Cameron is forced into a difficult decision, he may trigger a National Vote, shifting responsibility onto the public. However, if the outcome is catastrophic, Cameron immediately Resigns to a Nice Cottage in the Cotswolds.
  Quote:
  "We're all in this together—well, apart from my friends in the City."
  Flavour Text:
  The man who gave the UK its most chaotic decade since World War II, Cameron's legacy is austerity, that referendum, and that alleged incident with a pig. Thought he could handle populism—turns out he couldn't even handle Boris Johnson.
  
  On mobile and lazy, else I would have made this more Batman-like.
- At least this actually is clapping back. I'm still waiting for all the eviscerations of shitty senators I've been hearing about for years.

"But, you are the government," Bash pointed out while Noem nodded in agreement.
"That's what I'm saying. The American people now are saying that we have had our personal information shared and out there in the public," Noem started before Bash interrupted to point out Musk has access to said personal information.
"Yeah, but Elon Musk is part of the administration that is helping us identify where we can find savings and what we can do and he has gone through the processes to make sure that he has authority," Noem defended before stating she is comfortable by "the work he's doing to identify waste, fraud and abuse."
User themeatbridge@lemmy.world observed in another thread how every conservative holds the unshakable, foundational belief that they are a good person, regardless of how they actually act. Here Noem brings it back to "Well, we're the good guys so it doesn't matter when we do it." When you see it in this way, a lot of what the MAGA people do starts to make a little more sense. They don't have to do anything good, or not do anything bad, in order to be the good guys in their own eyes. It's just axiomatic for them.
Here's a copy of themeatbridge@lemmy.world's comment:
Conservativism is built on the idea that “I’m a good person.” That’s the core of every single conservative ideology. There are no unifying beliefs, no foundational value, no immovable, fundamental priorities for conservatives. Everything is negotiable, except for the fact that “I am a good person.” If I want something to change, it must change because I am a good person. If I want something to stay the same, it must remain the same because I am s good person. If you disagree with me, then you are a bad person.
A party of conservatives will coalesce around a single identity, and then it morphs into “We are the good people” but only because each individual member still believes “I am a good person.”
If someone else does something bad, it reinforces the idea that they are good. If they do something bad, it’s justified because they are the good ones as it was either necessary or a meaningless temporary lapse.
Conservativism is not so much an ideology as it is a psychosocial virus.
So there is no irony, no hypocrisy, no self-reflection among conservatives. They don’t perceive their flaws because that’s the point of conservativism. If conservativism were a sport, it would be Calvinball, where the rules are ephemeral and capricious.
When you try to apply reason to a conservative’s statements or actions, you’re wrestling with the tar baby they made for you.
(Original thread)
- Noem: You can't trust the government!
  Reporter: You are the government.
  Noem: Exactly.
- he (Musk) has gone through the processes to make sure that he has authority
  He doesn't even have valid security clearance for areas he's literally downloading! What processes???
  
  "Daddy said it was okay"
- In regards to meatbridges comment, this can also be seen in every church that forgives one of it's men for their "transgressions" and "they just need time to heal with God" after they impregnated a teen churchgoer.
  Every time they're caught in a mens restroom trying to bang other dudes, it's just a little mistake, and should be forgiven, even though they spend all day and night saying all homosexuals should be put to death, somehow conveniently forgetting that they are technically homosexual, even if they want to deny it.
  you’re wrestling with the tar baby they made for you.
  That's a fucking deep cut. We sadly don't have a briar patch to be safely thrown into to escape the Fox.

That was such a weak “clap back”. She should have continued with ‘but we can’t trust you”. You said it yourself. I guess it’s a start.

The point was completely lost on her.
- You can hear the wind whistling through her empty head.
  
  That's ridiculous...
  There's a lot of hate sludging around in there too.
- She's right, after all.

It literally doesn't matter to their followers.
The GOP has been in charge of Texas for over 25 years, and they still run on "Vote for us to fix everything" as if they haven't failed at that miserably for 25 fucking years running.
They want to force their delusions into reality and force them on others.