Editor's note: Bradley Blankenship is a Prague-based American journalist, political analyst and freelance reporter. He has been featured on Press TV, Russia Today and Radio Sputnik. The article reflects the author's opinions, not necessarily the views of CGTN.

In a very rare showing of self-censorship, U.S. President Donald Trump skipped out on one of his daily "press briefings" on Saturday night. It appears that even the president, or at least those close to him, now realize how self-defeating and downright dangerous his public appearances have become over the past weeks as he continues to spew vitriol and falsehoods.

While this is no doubt a positive development in America's fight against COVID-19, can we expect more of this?

In my last column, I said that media should de-platform Trump due to his dangerous comments related to COVID-19, including his latest about potentially ingesting disinfectants or putting UV light into the body. Indeed, his comments did apparently lead to some upticks in calls to poison control the past few days as was reported in Illinois.

It appears that this latest comment was so self-evidently irresponsible that even Fox News has been reporting on the fallout from this latest statement and criticizing the president's remarks.

"Wow, that is a little unsettling," said Fox Business host Neil Cavuto. "Got to clarify this. The president was not joking in his remarks yesterday." Brett Baier of Fox News has also denied Trump's claim that he was joking in his comment, saying that Trump "clearly stepped in it."

Even fringe-right media that rushed to defend Trump were so brutally attacked for their defense that they had to put their tails between their legs. Joel Pollack of Breitbart wrote an article trying to "fact check" the media on misconstruing Trump's comment and was deservedly mocked online. Breitbart's senior management issued an update on the article saying:

"The piece has been re-framed as it should have been originally (as opinion), and further updated to reflect President Trump's statement this morning that he was being sarcastic. We apologize for the error, and you are welcome for all the opportunities to dunk on us on Twitter."

This is notable for many reasons, but mostly because the far-right never walk back on anything no matter how factually incorrect and vitriolic. Much of their public discourse revolves around conversation control and mocking their detractors. They always double down. The fact that the right is distancing themselves from Trump is rare and exposes that this president may not have the cultish following many, including himself, believe.

Don't think for a second that he isn't aware of the ground he's losing. Trump is keenly sensitive to his image and constantly monitors polls. His close allies and aides urged him to end these daily briefings because of how self-defeating they are, according to CNN White House correspondent Jeremy Diamond, and polls show Trump slipping in battleground states due to his daily "press briefings." And while he surely agreed to heed the advice based on polling concerns, he has still trudged on as the Twitter spin doctor that he is.

"What is the purpose of having White House News Conferences when the Lamestream Media asks nothing but hostile questions, & then refuses to report the truth or facts accurately. They get record ratings, & the American people get nothing but Fake News. Not worth the time & effort!", Trump tweeted on Saturday night in lieu of his normal press appearance, indicating no remorse for his comments.

All indications point to the fact that Trump will never self-censor unless it is politically advantageous. The key then is to apply political pressure. In America, this is typically done within an electoral framework and political opponents, namely the opposition party's candidate, hammer away at the mistakes of the incumbent. So far the presumptive Democratic Party nominee for president Joe Biden has only said this:

"I can't believe I have to say this, but please don't drink bleach," Biden tweeted on Friday, totally whiffing as the ball was in his court.

There is no hope that Joe Biden can or will seriously challenge this president where it matters. He has presented no concrete counter-plan to Trump's response and has thus far only joined Trump in the gutter by criticizing Trump from the right on the issue of China. That is to say that Biden somehow managed to out-racist Trump while also giving Trump and his supporters the basic presumption that China is to blame for all of America's COVID-19 woes. 

This only leaves one crucial actor on this issue – the media. If Trump will not continue to self-censor and his circle can't shut him up, then I return to my earlier point that the media must de-platform him. That is the only responsible thing to do. After all, the situation in the U.S. is only near the end of the beginning and Trump is inching towards undoing all of the positive developments so far.

No matter how Trump tries to paint his self-censorship as an independent decision made fully of his own volition and not from pressure even from his most ardent supporters, the fact remains that this is a victory, however small it may be. If even one American's life can be saved from muzzling these unhinged comments, that is a positive step. Importantly, this shows that the far-right tactics of Trump, which always seem to leave liberals baffled and powerless, are not undefeatable.

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