(Screenshot from YouTube)
OK, President Trump wasn't accompanied by J6ers nor did he conduct a purge of members of Congress, the Supreme Court or the military as I had feared.
But his remarks, which lasted nearly 1 hour and 40 minutes, were full of exaggeration, hyperbole and unsubstantiated bullshit. Trump boasted he had done more in 43 days than other administrations had done in four and even eight years. He claimed the spirit, pride and confidence was back. The stock market, which Trump loves to talk about so much, strongly disagrees following his imposition of tariffs against Canada, Mexico and China.
Trump spoke of an economic comeback, but our unemployment rate has been below 5% since September 2021. What comeback is he talking about? At one point, Trump claimed that polls showed there was a 27% swing in terms of people believing the country was going in the right direction. He's just making it up as he goes along. I lost track of how many times Trump said "like you wouldn't believe" but every time he said it; I didn't believe him.
Trump claimed that he had the biggest mandate in decades. Former President Obama had a much larger mandate in both 2008 and 2012 while President Biden earned a higher percentage of the popular vote than Trump did in 2020 all his claims of fraud to the contrary. Congressman Al Green certainly didn't believe him regarding his mandate claims and let him have it.
House Speaker Mike Johnson had Green removed from the chamber. Alas, no other Democratic member of Congress had the gumption to stand up to Trump's bullshit. Mind you, if others had taken up Green's mantle the focus would be on "obstructionist Democrats" rather than on Trump's bullshit. What I think Democrats in Congress should do during Trump's SOTU address next year is walk out on him en masse. While some might consider that obstructionist, it would be great political theatre.
Trump claimed that President Biden cut drilling for oil and gas by 95% but drilling was up substantially during the Biden Administration much to the consternation of environmentalists.
With a straight face, Trump claimed the federal government would no longer be subject to whims of unelected bureaucrats with Elon Musk present in the chamber.
Trump went on a prolonged rant about Social Security checks going to millions of people over 100 when the number is less than 100,000. But since when has Trump let the truth get in the way of a performance?
If you believe Donald Trump is going to balance the federal budget lest we forget that more debt accrued under his first term than all other Presidents combined.
President Trump claimed that because of his tariffs, Honda is building a new plant in Indiana. No, the plant is already there, and Honda is merely shifting work there to get around the tariffs.
At one point, Trump declared that "tariffs protect the soul of the nation." When the economy enters a prolonged recession, the tariffs might be the one thing which hang around Trump's neck like an albatross.
As other Presidents have done, Trump spotlighted people in the gallery including DJ Daniel, a 13-year-old cancer survivor whose dream it is to be a police officer and was sworn in as an honorary Secret Service agent. Trump then spoke of childhood cancer and how his new HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. would chair a special committee to combat it. Well, it would be nice if the Trump Administration didn't cut cancer research funding from the CDC and the NIH.
Trump devoted all of a sentence to the freed Israeli hostages while decrying military aid to Ukraine as "taking candy from a baby". It's worth noting that Trump referred to it as "the conflict in Ukraine" as if Russia bears no responsibility for it.
If President Trump were to tell me the sun was shining, I would go to the nearest window to check. He does not get the benefit of the doubt in my book. But for millions of Americans, his word is gospel. Some even put Trump before G-d and worship him as a false idol. Even if Trump were to be caught on a hot mic denouncing his supporters as fools and saps, in this day and age many of his supporters would claim it was fake news or AI.
A precious few of these people might learn the truth about Trump the hard way should tariffs destroy our way of life. But it might not be enough for us to change course in 2028 assuming we have an election. And if we do choose to change course, chances are the American government which Trump is remaking in his image will choose to our ignore our will just as it ignores court rulings.
In which case, the fact that I believe almost nothing Trump says is of very cold comfort.
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