“Ninety-four percent of the press I get is negative, when I do something wonderful,” President Trump complained Friday night at a rally in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Well, it depends what one means by negative and what one means by wonderful. But Trump’s rally, his third of four this week, was a clinic in why the media is kept busy pointing out the many contradictions that emerge when the president speaks—and the many lies he tells about supposedly wonderful things he’s done.
[Read: Trump wants to be the president of a one-party state.]
A few hours before he went on stage, the Department of Justice announced the arrest of Cesar Sayoc in connection with a series of bombs sent to prominent critics of the president, including Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Maxine Waters, and George Soros. Trump has spent the last three days cycling rapidly through perspectives on the bombing, from a somber vow to catch the perpetrator to blaming the media to suggesting that the attack was a “false flag” designed to hurt the Republican Party.
Trump started out trying to strike a measured tone in Charlotte. The only problem was that someone kept tripping him up: himself.
“Political violence must never ever be allowed in America and I will do everything in my power to stop it,” he said. “We must unify as a nation in peace, love, and in harmony.”
In literally the next breath he began a lengthy rhetorical barrage against the press, as though it was the mainstream media and not he that had celebrated and incited violence.
“We all say this in all sincerity”—he was not being sincere—“but the media’s constant unfair coverage, deep hostility, and negative attacks—you know that—only to serve to drive people apart and to undermine healthy debate,” he said.
“It is time for us to replace the politics of anger and destruction with real debate about the real issues,” he said. “We want honest coverage from the media. That’s all we want.”
If you insist, Mr. President—but a good place to start would be a little reciprocal honesty. In Charlotte, Trump claimed once again that he would cut taxes 10 percent before election day, an entirely chimerical promise. He said that Democrats wanted to eliminate Medicare (if anything, they want to expand it) and to eliminate protections for people with pre-existing conditions, while saying Republicans would protect those people. In fact, the Trump administration is seeking to roll back protections, and Republicans around the country have voted to do so or sued to try to eliminate the protections. It is a remarkably brazen lie.
“The Democrats want to invite caravan after caravan of illegal immigrants into our country and they want to sign up them for free health care, welfare, and they want to sign them up for the right to vote,” Trump said. None of this is true.
Moving on, Trump called for a more reasoned debate with fewer ad hominem attacks.
“In recent days we’ve had a broader conversation about the tone and civility of our national dialogue,” he said. “Everyone will benefit if we can end the politics of personal destruction.”
Within moments, he was mocking Nancy Pelosi, “Cryin’ Chuck Schumer,” (“I’ve known him a long time. He never came close to crying except on a particular night”) and, of course, “Crooked Hillary.” Clinton was, of course, one of the targets for the mail bomber. Trump mentioned another target who he frequently lambastes, Representative Maxine Waters, then became uncharacteristically coy. “Maxine Waters,” he began, then caught himself. “But I’m going to be nice tonight, so I won’t say it. I won’t say it.”
[Adam Serwer: ]Trump's condemnations of violence are literally, seriously unbelievable
Trump wants harmony, but he immediately attacks. He demands honest coverage, but like a funhouse George Washington, he cannot tell a truth. He pleads for an end to the politics of personal destruction, but he cannot resist indulging in ad hominem attacks. Trump’s vision of unity is one, as I wrote Friday, that can exist only in one-party states, where there is no meaningful opposition and no criticism. His idea of harmony is that his critics yield entirely to his whims.
Although Trump is incoherent and self-contradictory, Eric Levitz is probably right that the biggest problem is not his tone but his perpetual dishonesty. At one point Friday night, during the midst of a riff about the border wall, the president mentioned Hillary Clinton, and the crowd struck up a “lock her up” chant.
“They’ll be reporting you tonight,” Trump grinned. That, at least, was true.
from The Atlantic https://ift.tt/2AtNgv9
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