For the umpteenth time, Donald Trump embarrassed the United States on the national stage Thursday night by continuing to peddle conspiracy theories about the results of the 2020 election. This comes at a time when the United States is involved in an unprovoked war in Iran, wildfires destroying air quality, economic inequality the likes of which we have never seen, and a national Gestapo that continues to kill its own citizens with impunity. There’s plenty more I could add to this litany, but there is only so much room in this column.
By revisiting these demonstrably false claims during these national catastrophes (which were not even given passing mention), Trump has once again proved his inability to conjure even the barest modicum of human decency while utilizing his only true talent: making the moment about himself. That the president has decided, once again, to put his personal vanity ahead of his true responsibility as Commander-in-Chief is not surprising, but is an egregious breach of not just the concept of the Presidency, but against America itself.
And that’s not all he’s done this week. It has been reported that the social media site he owns, Truth Social, will now offer an expedited service to the financial industry, allowing them to access his posts more quickly so that they can get a jump on purchasing shares of any traded company he endorses. It would seem the President has been praising certain companies right after he purchases shares of their stock. Of course, this is all a coincidence and the unnamed individuals who handle the President’’s business affairs, well out of his sight for ethical reasons, have no way of knowing what the President will say or when he will say it.
But corruption is commonplace in this administration, with the Trump family and their acolytes benefiting from foreign business arrangements worth billions of dollars. Once again, we are to believe this is a coincidence, and everything Donald Trump, the man just forced to pay E. Jean Carroll over $5 million because he sexually assaulted her, is beyond reproach. The sycophants who defend this president, ironically, will not see any benefit of this brazen corruption. Just the opposite; if it becomes advantageous for Trump to unceremoniously dump Howard Lutkin, or Caroline Leavitt, or Stephen Miller, he will do so immediately, even if the reward is minimal. For Trump, his entire existence is built around whatever he can get at the moment. Nothing else matters. And when he comes to a momentary break in taking all he can, we see old grievances revisited.
This break with reality has extended well beyond the absurd, entering into dangerous territory. Last week, Senator Jon Ossoff (D-GA) questioned Director of National Intelligence nominee Jay Clayton about the president’s constant lies about the 2020 election. When asked bluntly if Trump did, in fact, win the election, Clayton refused to answer, lamely offering as an excuse that he did not want to engage in what he considered leading questions. When the nominee for the position of Director of National Intelligence can not acknowledge an objective truth, one must question his competency for the vitally important position he is looking to assume.
And this level of cognitive dissonance permeates every level of the Trump Administration. No one feels safe to express the truth publicly, lest they suffer the wrath of a vengeful president who demands unquestioned loyalty but offers none himself. It is craven, naked ambition that makes someone accept such conditions so that they can wield power and, sadly, it will not end with Trump. While no one in his current orbit has the magnetism over his followers the way Trump does, others will see his modus operandi and assume the same principles themselves. This leads to a legacy of dictatorial and delusional “leadership” well beyond the modern incarnation of Trumpism. Unfortunately, this phenomenon will continue to exist long after Trump is swept from the national stage. Perhaps some will disavow him, but they run the risk of alienating the column of supporters who serve as a brace of the Republican Party. More likely is an attempt by many to enter Trump’s lineage and claim a position as heir.
I had hoped the conditions that created the Donald Trump presidency would somehow evaporate from American life. I assumed his disastrous two terms as president would be enough to destroy the legacy of the apparatus he created. But this will not be the case. As I have said before, Trump supporters have engrained Trump into their own personality to the point that removing him would be like removing an arm or a leg. There are an entire generation of people in this country who have made Donald Trump the prime feature of their personality, and it is now for the rest of us to push back against this poor-man’s megalomania, distilled from a hatred of people just like themselves.
So it will continue. Perhaps in a weakened state, perhaps, hopefully, as an oddity and curious, cautionary reminder of a difficult recent past where the United States flirted with totalitarianism and despotism. But it will remain, and we must remain vigilant against its worse impulses as we have been for two and a half centuries.
Top photo: PLBechly, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
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