When President Trump took the stage last night at the Capitol One Arena, I was having dinner with Christopher Kain at Galway House in Jamaica Plain.
I wrote, "Fortunately, the sound was down. If this was not the case, then we would have likely lost our appetites."
Well, I'm really glad the sound was down because if I had heard what he said, I would have been livid.
Trump shared the stage with the families of Israeli hostages and Noa Argamani, a hostage who was freed in a rescue operation by the IDF, Shin Bet and Israeli police forces last June. Argamani's boyfriend Avinatan Or remains in captivity by Hamas. Shortly before Trump's inauguration, Argamani stated, "Until Avinatan returns, my heart is in captivity."
For Trump's part, he mentioned the word hostage seven times during his remarks. But 5 of those 7 times, he was speaking of "J6 hostages".
Allow me to illustrate:
We have to bring them home. And you know, tonight, I'm going to be signing on the J-6 hostages' pardons to get them out. And as soon as I leave, I'm going to the Oval Office and we'll be signing pardons for a lot of people, a lot of people.
They said, don't talk about the J-6 hostages that you're going to be releasing today. Sir, don't put that in your speech, please. I said, but really, I want to put it in my speech. They said, sir, it won't be unified like it is. It's so beautiful the way it is and it is getting great reviews. You know, if I put things like that in, I'll get terrible reviews.
We're going to release our great hostages that didn't do, for the most part, they didn't do stuff wrong.
All they want to do is go after the J-6 hostages. A 76-year-old grandmother was arrested the other day because she was looking, I think because she was looking at the Capitol or something like that. Nah, we're not going to put up with that crap anymore. And to stop the weaponization of law enforcement.
MAGA was the most successful political operation, political movement in the history of our country, maybe in the history of the world. Let's see what happens because we're not finished yet. We're not finished yet. We got a long way to go. But we're doing this in the very first day in office and in just a few moments, I'm not only signing the release of the J-6 hostages, I'm signing other things that you're going to love.
President Trump was gaslighting Noa Argamani and the families of Israeli hostages while they were standing next to him on stage so he could talk about the people he considers to be real hostages.
None of the 1500 plus people Trump chose to pardon yesterday a result of their actions on the U.S. Capitol and against Capitol police on January 6, 2021, has ever been in any danger of being raped or murdered.
None of the 1500 plus people Trump chose to pardon yesterday know any of the suffering endured by Noa Argamani at the hands of Hamas and what Avinatan Or continues to suffer at the hands of Hamas.
That is, of course, assuming he is still alive.
Let me be clear. Those who assaulted U.S. Capitol Police on January 6, 2021, are not now and never have been hostages. They are criminals, pardon or no pardon. Period.
Say what you will about the DOJ. They are not to be confused with Hamas. Ever.
The only reason Trump considers the January 6th rioters to be hostages because they acted in his name.
To him Noa Argamani and the families of Israeli hostages are nothing more than props which are to be disposed of once he has no further use of them.
Unless it is for his own personal benefit, President Trump doesn't give a damn about the Israeli hostages or their families.
If he truly cared about the Israeli hostages, then he would have championed them from October 7th onward. Instead, Trump bitched and moaned about the Israeli government.
At this point, there is nothing we can do about Trump. It is Day 2 of a second term which will last four years and very possibly beyond.
But it would be a good opportunity for Democratic Senators (and perhaps a Republican Senator with a spine) to question former Congresswoman Elise Stefanik, his nominee for U.S. Ambassador to the UN, during her confirmation hearings for her characterization of the J-6ers as "hostages" more than a year ago.
Because we need to be clear about who is a hostage and who isn't a hostage.
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