What Charlie has said in this article about Trump’s disdain for his own supporters must absolutely be true because it mirrors exactly the same points that I have made over the past few years. When Trump first made his claim about shooting someone on 5th Avenue, I assumed he was just spouting off about his iron clad hold on his base. It…
What Charlie has said in this article about Trump’s disdain for his own supporters must absolutely be true because it mirrors exactly the same points that I have made over the past few years. When Trump first made his claim about shooting someone on 5th Avenue, I assumed he was just spouting off about his iron clad hold on his base. It was only when he went to Liberty University and claimed that he “had so many favorite Bible verses that he couldn’t name just one”, that the scales began to fall from my eyes. First of all, every living, breathing, sentient being on this planet knows that what Trump said was a lie (and if further proof is needed Trump’s reference to “Two Corinthians” – you know, the Twoth Letter of Paul to the Corinthians - removed any doubt). Now, Trump could have played this any number of ways. The honest Trump would have said that he simply doesn’t read the Bible and has no favorite verse. The political Trump would have known that such a question was coming and he would have been prepared by picking one verse just to satisfy his audience. What are they going to do – tell him that that verse isn’t his favorite? That would be like the scene in Monty Python and the Holy Grail where the character is cast into the pit because he answers the question “what is your favorite color” wrong.
But the actual, grifter Trump didn’t do either of those things. He simply made up an answer that was really a non-answer that everyone in the audience knew was a lie. He didn’t even have enough respect for his audience to lie convincingly to them. Or the work ethic to be prepared. He just figured he could wing his way through the whole thing because he knew that his audience would lap up whatever he said (even if they didn’t really believe him, he knew it was going to be OK).
I later saw Trump interviewed on the Christian Broadcasting Network. When he was asked if he was more of an Old Testament guy or more of a New Testament guy, I just knew he was going to say “both”. Bingo!
So the whole 5th Avenue thing isn’t just Trump bragging on his popularity. It’s also an admission that he believes his supporters are slavishly enough devoted to him that there isn’t anything that he could do to break the spell. And let’s face it – he was right.
And throughout Trump’s Presidency, he continued the practice of just saying whatever he felt like saying, knowing that his base would support whatever it was. So he could claim that he was being sarcastic to make the press look bad when he talked about injecting bleach to fight COVID (even if that were true, everyone should have been appalled at the President of the United States using his position to supposedly communicate with the country on a matter of life and death like COVID to settle a petty grievance with the press) and his base nods along even if every bit of available evidence (like videotape) shows that he was not being sarcastic at all. Or he could claim that he didn’t call “Tim Cook” “Tim Apple” when audio analysis showed that he did.
You don’t show respect for your audience when you insult their intelligence.
And, of course, not only does Trump have no respect for his base, he has no respect for the office. So he could make an address from the Oval Office on the country’s initial response to COVID and get five major things wrong. Because he is simply too lazy to get himself prepared.
And I have said it many times – when Trump lies about something (like a “you do realize that we have it on tape” kind of lie) and the press calls him on it, his supporters don’t get mad at Trump, the source of the lie. They get made at the press for pointing it out.
But when you are dealing with a cult, these are the things that happen.
What Charlie has said in this article about Trump’s disdain for his own supporters must absolutely be true because it mirrors exactly the same points that I have made over the past few years. When Trump first made his claim about shooting someone on 5th Avenue, I assumed he was just spouting off about his iron clad hold on his base. It was only when he went to Liberty University and claimed that he “had so many favorite Bible verses that he couldn’t name just one”, that the scales began to fall from my eyes. First of all, every living, breathing, sentient being on this planet knows that what Trump said was a lie (and if further proof is needed Trump’s reference to “Two Corinthians” – you know, the Twoth Letter of Paul to the Corinthians - removed any doubt). Now, Trump could have played this any number of ways. The honest Trump would have said that he simply doesn’t read the Bible and has no favorite verse. The political Trump would have known that such a question was coming and he would have been prepared by picking one verse just to satisfy his audience. What are they going to do – tell him that that verse isn’t his favorite? That would be like the scene in Monty Python and the Holy Grail where the character is cast into the pit because he answers the question “what is your favorite color” wrong.
But the actual, grifter Trump didn’t do either of those things. He simply made up an answer that was really a non-answer that everyone in the audience knew was a lie. He didn’t even have enough respect for his audience to lie convincingly to them. Or the work ethic to be prepared. He just figured he could wing his way through the whole thing because he knew that his audience would lap up whatever he said (even if they didn’t really believe him, he knew it was going to be OK).
I later saw Trump interviewed on the Christian Broadcasting Network. When he was asked if he was more of an Old Testament guy or more of a New Testament guy, I just knew he was going to say “both”. Bingo!
So the whole 5th Avenue thing isn’t just Trump bragging on his popularity. It’s also an admission that he believes his supporters are slavishly enough devoted to him that there isn’t anything that he could do to break the spell. And let’s face it – he was right.
And throughout Trump’s Presidency, he continued the practice of just saying whatever he felt like saying, knowing that his base would support whatever it was. So he could claim that he was being sarcastic to make the press look bad when he talked about injecting bleach to fight COVID (even if that were true, everyone should have been appalled at the President of the United States using his position to supposedly communicate with the country on a matter of life and death like COVID to settle a petty grievance with the press) and his base nods along even if every bit of available evidence (like videotape) shows that he was not being sarcastic at all. Or he could claim that he didn’t call “Tim Cook” “Tim Apple” when audio analysis showed that he did.
You don’t show respect for your audience when you insult their intelligence.
And, of course, not only does Trump have no respect for his base, he has no respect for the office. So he could make an address from the Oval Office on the country’s initial response to COVID and get five major things wrong. Because he is simply too lazy to get himself prepared.
And I have said it many times – when Trump lies about something (like a “you do realize that we have it on tape” kind of lie) and the press calls him on it, his supporters don’t get mad at Trump, the source of the lie. They get made at the press for pointing it out.
But when you are dealing with a cult, these are the things that happen.
What the base is actually showing is how little they respect themselves. Sad and pathetic.