Donald Trump is like a car salesman.* He will say whatever
comes into his head in an effort to persuade, with little or no thought to
whether he is uttering the truth.
Examples: He said that his inauguration drew the largest
crowd in US
history. Untrue. Photographs of Trump's inauguration crowd on the Washington,
D.C. mall and of Barack Obama's inauguration
crowd four or eight years earlier clearly showed that the latter was larger.)
He said that he won the election with the largest number of
electoral votes, at least among recent presidents. Again, untrue. Most if not
all of the four or five most recent presidents received more electoral votes. I
believe I heard him say he'd gotten 360 electoral votes. The correct number was
304.
He said that the only reason he did not win the majority of
the popular vote in the election was
because of voter fraud. Many people, including people in Trump's own party,
have said there is no evidence of significant voter fraud.
It's very interesting, even astonishing, that a speaking
event which Trump has scheduled is to be, his team claims, an election event.
One can only speculate as to why he is campaigning for re-election when it is
not even a month into his present term.
Possibly, out of insecurity, he does not feel confident that
he will be able to run, in four years, on a record of solid accomplishments.
More likely, he knows that his approval ratings, according to the polls (which
Trump publicly denounces and claims contempt for) are very low.
________
*I apologize for the calumny against car salesmen. Compared
to Trump they probably would come off favorably. Also, I want to admit I am
engaging in a stereotype. It may be outdated and even if it is not, it is no
more accurate than any other stereotype, and doubtless there are many, many car
salesmen who are essentially honest and ethical.
Copyright © 2017.
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