By the time you read this, the president may have released the “Trumpies” – his “Fake News” awards for 2017. To honor the time and effort he’s taking for this highly relevant and important topic, it seems logical to review his tweets as an insight into the presidential mind – as a reflection of what’s worthy of his time, his judgment and his comment.
As president and as an individual, Trump is unique. One of a kind. Nothing he says should shock or surprise, and yet he manages to exceed expectations.
Let’s begin with what this isn’t. Even though much of Trump’s life and tweets revolve around competing with and/or putting down Obama and Clinton, this article isn’t about them and those tweets are not included…with one exception. And this isn’t about the latest tell-all book, Fire and Fury – Inside the Trump White House. This is just about Trump; there’s no need to rely on others to define him. His words alone suffice; he does this better than anyone else.
Fresh off his self-proclaimed success from signing the Tax and Jobs Act, fresh off of his golf-infused vacation, fresh off all time highs on the stock market, Trump engaged in a series of 16 tweets in a single day that deflected from those highs and focused again on his own shortcomings and insecurities. No perceived slight must go unpunished, even if he hurts himself in the process.
It would be easy to laugh off his tweets as meaningless early morning ramblings but we cannot. In fact, we really can not. The Department of Justice, in response to a question posed by a U.S. District Judge, confirmed that “the government is treating the President’s statements, whether by tweet, speech or interview, as official statements of the President of the United States.” Since tweets are likely to be the most prolific (and perhaps only) content in Trump’s Presidential Library, let’s look at some of the winners since he became president.
Obama had my wires tapped. Although clumsily stated, there was no evidence at the time or since to support that claim.
If something happens, blame him. Trump was referring to the judge who put a hold on his first iteration of the travel ban. Muslim migrant beats up Dutch boy on crutches! Trump retweeted a video by an ultra-nationalist political group that had been kicked off Twitter. The suspect was born and raised in the Netherlands, not a Muslim and the video had previously been debunked. No claim as to who sent it to him.
Enemy of the American People. Trump’s stunning statement about the press – minus FOX News and conspiracy theorists, of course.
They want everything done for them. Trump’s description of Puerto Ricans following the devastation caused by hurricanes Irma and Maria. The US response to this tragedy has been appalling.
Fire or suspend! Never one to miss an opportunity, Trump agitated against players taking a knee as a peaceful protest against racism and police brutality.
His dislike of CNN. Trump body slamming the CNN logo – very classy.
Do the right thing. Trump’s endorsement tweet encouraging Alabamans to vote for an accused child molester for Senate; a judge who had been kicked off the bench…twice.
She’s a lightweight…begging for campaign contributions … would do anything for them. Trump’s attack on Senator Kirsten Gillibrand for calling him out for self-confessed sexual assaults and allegations by others.
Since taking office I have been very strict on Commercial Aviation…zero deaths in 2017, the best and safest year on record! There hasn’t been a fatality on a commercial US carrier since 2009. The sun rose this morning – and is no one giving him credit?!
I too have a Nuclear Button, but it is a much bigger & more powerful one than his, (Kim Jong Un’s) and my Button works! Really? As an aside, that statement seems highly over-inflated.
Of course choosing from around 2,000 tweets just since inauguration is an impossible task. It’s unfortunate that tweets about Clinton and Obama couldn’t be included but there’s only so much one can take. A pundit wrote that ‘this nightmare could be over with tomorrow if someone would tell the president that Obama can hold his breath for 10 minutes.” Perhaps the best summary of him by him is this recent tweet: “Actually…my two greatest assets have been mental stability and being, like, really smart.” “As far as being elected President…I think that would qualify as not smart but genius…and a very stable genius at that.”
A Mexican proverb states, “Tell me what you brag about and I’ll tell you what you lack.” Psychologists call this defense mechanism a “reaction formation.” As a nod to Trump’s statement about shithole countries (a perfectly permissible term since it was used by the President of the United States), please note the number of times he has said “I am not a racist.” That’s exactly who he is.
Back to tweets, as Sarah Huckabee Sanders repeatedly says, “the tweets speak for themselves.” Indeed.
Ah, for the days of “covfefe.” That was as close to genius as Trump will ever get.
Marsha Shearer is a resident of The Villages and a frequent contributor to Villages-News.com
