Before Trump was elected, Americans got a preview of what a Trump presidency might look like. Here was a man who issued racial slurs, ridiculed the handicapped and maligned all his political opponents with vulgar names and descriptions. His supporters defended him, in part, by asserting he would lose his coarse approach once he became president. In other words, he would become "presidential." Or, at least, his white house advisers would reign him in and polish the ragged personality that has always been Trump.
Five hundred days have passed since his inauguration, during which we have watched as Trump has exaggerated or lied countless times. But on Friday, (6/15/18), Trump went "all in." He gave two interviews displaying truly who he is and what he represents. He answered questions regarding the Inspector General report, his administration's handling of the immigration issue and his meeting with Kim Jong Un.
His die hard supporters must be very proud.
While being interviewed by a gaggle of reporters, Trump exulted over the results of the I. G. report. He was thrilled to announce, "If you read the I. G. report, I've been totally exonerated. There was no collusion, there was no obstruction, and if you read the report you'll see that."
The only problem with his account is the I. G. report has nothing to do with the Mueller investigation of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia. Trump's statement is a complete fabrication. Do his supporters know that? Do they care?
Another lie Trump slipped into his exchange with reporters covered the obscene policy of separating migrant children from their parents at the southern border with Mexico. When asked to justify this cruel policy, Trump blamed the democrats: "I hate the children being taken away. The Democrats have to change their law. That's their law." Of course, this is a lie. There is no law requiring children be separated from their parents. This policy was implemented by the Trump administration's "zero tolerance" which was initiated in April of this year.
When it comes to being caught in a lie, many politicians try to wiggle their way out by employing additional subterfuges, which Trump himself has been known to do. On Friday, Trump tried to justify the misleading statement he dictated about the Trump Tower meeting with Russians during the 2016 campaign that he told to The New York Times as "irrelevant," since he only told it to "the phony, failing New York Times. That's not a statement to a high tribunal of judges. That's a statement to the phony New York Times." Trump's logic: you only have to tell the truth if you're under oath in a court; lying to the media, and consequently, the public, is perfectly acceptable for this president.
Trump also lied on Friday about the length of time Paul Manafort spent as chairman of his campaign and suggested that Michael Flynn did not lie to investigators even though he pleaded guilty to doing just that. Facts do not distinguish truth from lies; for Trump, his point of view determines what is truth.
Chuck Todd of Meet The Press captured the magnitude of Trump's "performance": "Today's Potus performance was breathtaking in the sheer number of provable falsehoods, intentional mischaracterizations and outright lies uttered."
To countenance so many lies and falsehoods, as his base of supporters continually do, must require an extraordinary reservoir of denial or dishonesty on their part. How else could they continue to hear the lies that infest Trump's daily discourse. But chronic, habitual lying is actually Trump's second worst personality trait. Considerably more disturbing for anyone with an allegiance to democracy is Trump's undisguised admiration for dictators.
This admiration for dictators starkly contrasts with Trump's disdain for America's long standing allies. Justin Trudeau is "dishonest and weak" and our European allies are being punished by trade tariffs as if they were adversaries. Yet, for Putin, Duterte and now Kim Jong Un Trump has nothing but praise. When asked on Fox and Friends about Kim visiting the White House, Trump acknowledged the possibility and added, "Hey, he is the head of a country, and I mean he is the strong head. Don't let anyone think anything different. He speaks and his people sit up at attention. I want mine to do the same."
What should be clear is Trump's desire to rule as Kim does. He wants to be unfettered by democratic constitutional checks and balances, free from the rule of law and, most importantly, he wants to be celebrated by the media, rather than judged and, yes, criticized by it. Instead of exaltation, which Kim's state controlled media lavish on their dictator, Trump is forced to contend with honest reporting about his mendacious and autocratic personality. If he could only treat the media the way Kim dealt with his uncle who fell asleep during a meeting. After all, he believes that "Our country's biggest enemy is the Fake News so easily promulgated by fools."
I am sorry to say that it is not the press which is our country's biggest enemy; our biggest enemy is Donald Trump.
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