The question is: Are we dedicated to the proposition that all people are created equal or are we not? Fox News reporter Brian Kilmeade on Monday morning (05/12/2025), asked the White House Press Secretary, Karoline Leavitt, regarding Kingdom of Qatar's gift of the flying palace, "if there were any concerns that the Qatari government woul…
The question is: Are we dedicated to the proposition that all people are created equal or are we not? Fox News reporter Brian Kilmeade on Monday morning (05/12/2025), asked the White House Press Secretary, Karoline Leavitt, regarding Kingdom of Qatar's gift of the flying palace, "if there were any concerns that the Qatari government would expect any return favors from the president?" And White House Press Secretary Leavitt answered: "Absolutely not, because they know President Trump and they know that he only works with the interest of the American public in mind".
I think Leavitt's answer was not spontaneous. I suspect White House staffers knew a question like that was coming and they prepared that answer. This is how I understand that answer: It does not matter WHAT their leader does. What matters is WHO he is. To think this way, one must believe all men (people) are not created equal. If any of us were to sit in the presidential chair and accept the gift of a flying palace from the Kingdom of Qatar, the monarch and courtiers of that Kingdom would expect that any of us would abuse our power in ways that would benefit them. But we are told that this is not so for President Trump. He cannot be bribed or swayed because he cares only for the interests of the American People. Therefore, if there is a clause (or in other cases, even several clauses) in the Constitution that prohibit WHAT he is doing, it does not matter because of WHO he is. Such rules would apply to us, but not to him, and may not even apply to his followers. His "WHO-ness" is so pure, powerful and virtuous that an action which, for others, would be corrupt, immoral or criminal, would not be for him. He may have believed this for a long time now, and now, apparently, many of his courtiers believe it. The question is, can we convince enough Americans, that to remain Americans, they must "absolutely not" accept Ms. Leavitt's deeply un-American explanation and continue to support Donald Trump?
The question is: Are we dedicated to the proposition that all people are created equal or are we not? Fox News reporter Brian Kilmeade on Monday morning (05/12/2025), asked the White House Press Secretary, Karoline Leavitt, regarding Kingdom of Qatar's gift of the flying palace, "if there were any concerns that the Qatari government would expect any return favors from the president?" And White House Press Secretary Leavitt answered: "Absolutely not, because they know President Trump and they know that he only works with the interest of the American public in mind".
I think Leavitt's answer was not spontaneous. I suspect White House staffers knew a question like that was coming and they prepared that answer. This is how I understand that answer: It does not matter WHAT their leader does. What matters is WHO he is. To think this way, one must believe all men (people) are not created equal. If any of us were to sit in the presidential chair and accept the gift of a flying palace from the Kingdom of Qatar, the monarch and courtiers of that Kingdom would expect that any of us would abuse our power in ways that would benefit them. But we are told that this is not so for President Trump. He cannot be bribed or swayed because he cares only for the interests of the American People. Therefore, if there is a clause (or in other cases, even several clauses) in the Constitution that prohibit WHAT he is doing, it does not matter because of WHO he is. Such rules would apply to us, but not to him, and may not even apply to his followers. His "WHO-ness" is so pure, powerful and virtuous that an action which, for others, would be corrupt, immoral or criminal, would not be for him. He may have believed this for a long time now, and now, apparently, many of his courtiers believe it. The question is, can we convince enough Americans, that to remain Americans, they must "absolutely not" accept Ms. Leavitt's deeply un-American explanation and continue to support Donald Trump?
Americans are tribalistic. The WHO has always mattered more than the WHAT. It’s moral relativism writ large.