Let’s be clear-eyed and honest lest we should insult each other’s intelligence, or our own: Everything that comes out of Donald Trump’s mouth is some kind of bullsh-t. Everything. There are no exceptions.
If you don’t accept that simple premise, you’re the type who might stare directly at the sun during a solar eclipse, which is to say Trump — who in 2017 famously broke the only rule of eclipses — surely believes a lot of his own bullsh-t by now.
George Costanza, one of history’s greatest liars, once counseled a friend: “Just remember, it’s not a lie if you believe it.” By the Costanza test, Trump doesn’t lie nearly as often as he does if we define a lie simply as a statement that’s incongruous with reality. And to be sure, we do have to take intent into account when we assess whether someone’s a liar.
For example, Trump doubtlessly believes there was something uniquely “great” about the US economy during his first term. So, is he lying to insist, over and over again, that America had “the greatest economy in the history of the world” from 2017 through February of 2020?
I’d argue yes. Yes, he’s still lying. That boast of Trump’s, which played prominently in his grandiose address to the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee on Thursday evening, is demonstrably false. There’s no evidence — none, not a shred of it — to back up the idea that the US economy was anomalously strong when he was president. Sure, the economy performed well and inflation was low. And that’s great. But show me the data to support Trump’s claim — which was greeted with audible laughs in Davos — that he created “a boom the likes of which the world has never seen before.” Show me that data. (Don’t waste your time. That data doesn’t exist.)
It’s remarkable that so many people who readily concede that Trump traffics almost exclusively in balderdash were inclined to a naively sympathetic assessment of his attempt to exploit what happened in Butler, Pennsylvania last weekend to bolster his messiah credentials.
Trump began the dramatized re-telling of the attempt on his life by saying, ludicrously, that he’s only going to tell the story once — because it’s too painful for him to recount. To state the obvious, Trump loves that story. He’s surely told it so many times by now that his family and friends are tired of hearing it. And he’ll tell it over and over again forever.
“I’m not supposed to be here tonight,” he said, alluding to his close call. “Yes you are!” the crowd chanted. “Yes you are!” Trump referenced divine intervention and, by extension, his own manifest destiny, so many times I lost count.
Here’s a screenshot from Trump’s retelling at the convention on Thursday evening:
Does that look, to you, like someone suffering from PTSD? Do rape survivors go to stadium rallies and regale a packed house framed by images from the scene blown up to the size of billboards?
What do you see in that image? Trump. You see Trump. Trump on a jumbotron. Trump on a vertically aligned jumbotron to the right of the main jumbotron. Trump on a horizontally aligned jumbotron on the left of the main jumbotron. Another jumbotron zoomed in on Trump’s prayer hands. Trump on a couple of box-sized jumbotrons placed on the floor. Trump everywhere.
Way over there on the periphery is the empty fire suit of the man who was killed at that rally. The GOP wheeled it out as a prop. Once Trump was done with his story, he walked over and kissed the suit. He also told the crowd how much money he raised for the family, waving around a paper check for $1 million. In short: Trump propagandized a dead volunteer firefighter and called it a remembrance. It was, in a word, despicable, but only if you understand Trump. If you don’t, you thought it was touching.
Tears flowed freely in the crowd. In fact, people were crying all night. Trump’s address to that convention wasn’t a political event, it was a megachurch rally for a cult. The video homage to Trump which played ahead of his speech described a beloved New Yorker “sought after” by celebrities and politicians. Trump, the audience was told, pursued the presidency not for his own glory, but to answer the the noble calling of public service and to save the nation he loves. If you believe that narrative, you’re a credulous dupe. There’s no use mincing any words.
Trump was preceded on stage by an excruciating scream-a-thon from a 53-year-old Kid Rock, a schmaltzy rendition from Lee Greenwood and an introduction from Dana White, who never went below a shout while ensuring the crowd that in all his years of dealing with badasses, never has he seen a badass as badass as the badass who is Donald Trump, badass.
Two things were clear from Trump’s RNC speech. First, Joe Biden can’t beat this man in November. Kamala Harris probably can’t either. Trump’s a juggernaut, his cult’s whipped into a religious frenzy and now his followers have an ostensible “miracle” to cite while claiming God wants him to be president.
Second, half of America doesn’t know a con when they see it. A handful of Trump’s highest-profile donors — a few hedge fund managers and VCs — know he’s a fraud. They support him for their own reasons, self-interest mostly. Everyone else, though, seems to buy it. They buy the bullsh-t.
Trump often talks of “scams” and “frauds” perpetrated on the American people. He’d know. His movement is the single biggest con ever foisted upon this country. And it’s not close.
You didn’t enjoy Kid Rock’s performance? Hulk Hogan is what won my vote…lol
The whole thing’s truly, truly sad. What he’s managed to do to people — a lot of them good people or at least people who don’t deserve to be exploited — is astounding in terms of scope and the depth of the manipulation. These people are lost. Forever. He took them some place and they’re never coming back.
This was my favorite part:
“But when Corey Comperatore’s gear was brought on stage, there was a glaring error: His name, embroidered on a fireman’s coat was misspelled as “Compertore.””
Didn’t watch but if you’re correct, one would think they’d get that right.
Just proves you don’t have to be that smart in Trump’s orbit. Or maybe, you can’t be that smart if you’re in his orbit. Yeah, the latter.
I was just thinking it’s so weird how he gets away with labeling anyone in the “party” that disagrees with him a RINO, when he is the definition of a RINO, as a populist.
People buying snake oil, hand-over-fist.
I’ve been reading ‘The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich’ recently. I wanted to understand how an entire nation could support someone as vile as Hitler and to abide the horrors of their government. I read this book through the lens of watching my own countrymen go through a similar fall.
By this account the great depression played a large role in Germany’s turn to fascism. Americans are by and large prosperous. My takeaway is that America is too spoiled to know what struggle really looks like anymore and have decided against all evidence that they are suffering.
Either way, I have come to the conclusion that there were no good Germans who supported Hitler and the same holds true for any American that still supports Trump.
I find it ironic that we have a republic, ostensibly to prevent the tyranny of the majority issue that pure democracy could engender; however, instead of protecting the country, it’s allowing a very questionable leader to rise in spite of the popular vote attempting to prevent it.