A televised presidential cabinet meeting ran unusually long and featured numerous effusive compliments from cabinet members directed at the president. Multiple officials offered over-the-top praise, including calling the president a champion for working people, an unmatched advocate for families, and a transformational leader worthy of banners. The president twice suggested some Americans might prefer a dictator. A broadcast montage of these remarks produced audible laughter and ridicule on air. The sequence emphasized concerns about sycophancy, loyalty within the administration, and the optics of authoritarian inclination among top officials.
PSAKI: Trump has surrounded himself with people who already treat him like a dictator. And I was going to try to describe for you just how sycophantic this cabinet meeting today was, how much it would make North Korean leader Kim Jong Un or Russian President Putin blush. But my attempt to summarize this meeting, just no matter how hard I tried, just could simply not do it justice. And this is one of those things you really have to see for yourself.
TULSI GABBARD, DNI: As we approach Labor Day weekend here. This is just such a great opportunity really to recognize your leadership as a true champion for working people. KELLY LOEFFLER, ADMINISTRATOR OF SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION: Everyone knows there's no stronger advocate for hardworking American families than you, sir. SEAN DUFFY, TRANSPORTATION: Mr. President, it's pretty great to celebrate Labor Day with a builder who loves labor.
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