Trump’s Worst Enemy in 2020 is Reality
The election is edging closer, over 42 million Americans have voted, and candidates are making their closing arguments. And yet, the closer we get to Election Day, the easier it is to see that Donald Trump refuses to be honest about his time as president, nor has he provided a valid argument for reelection.
With just days to go before the consequential presidential election, and on the day of an imperative third presidential debate, incumbent president and Republican nominee Donald Trump spent his morning releasing a recording of his “60 Minutes” interview with reporter Lesley Stahl, in a tweet, captioned, “Look at the bias, hatred and rudeness on behalf of 60 Minutes and CBS. Tonight’s anchor, Kristen Welker, is far worse! #MAGA”
The interview, which Trump walked out of after 37 minutes, was recorded by the White House for “archival purposes” but was released by Trump anyway, irking CBS.
Trump was obviously irritated in most of the interview, especially when asked about his comments on Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer.
At a rally in Michigan, when talking about Gov. Whitmer, Trump supporters began to shout, “lock her up.” In response, the president smiled, saying “lock them all up,” even though just weeks earlier, the F.B.I. thwarted a plan to kidnap the governor.
When Stahl pushed on this, Trump soon left the interview, saying: “You brought up a lot of subjects that were inappropriately brought up. They were inappropriately brought up, right from the beginning.”
This interview highlights a pattern in the president’s behavior. It’s a troubling chapter in a long, drawn-out saga of Trump playing the victim with reporters when asked about his record. But the reality is, Stahl was no harder on him in that “60 Minutes” interview than anybody else has been.
In an Axios interview, Trump became flustered and annoyed when Jonathan Snow pushed him on coronavirus deaths in the U.S. compared to other countries. In July, Trump became aggressive with reporter Chris Wallace in an interview after the reporter corrected the president for implying Biden wanted to defund the police, which he does not.
“Chris, you’ve got to start studying for these,” said the president.
And this “60 Minutes” fiasco comes just days after a town hall with NBC, in which Trump was asked to deny Q-Anon and their belief that he was a “savior” against Democrats running a “satanic pedophile ring.” The president refused to denounce such conspiracies, and instead praised their work against pedophilia.
Donald Trump is delusional. He has refused to answer pertinent questions about his record as president and has refused to outline what a second term would look like. On the campaign trail recently, Trump has averaged 50 misleading claims a day according to the Washington Post. The president’s inability to answer these questions, his inability to be honest, is damaging to the country, and the office of the presidency.
Perhaps the most symbolic moment of Trump’s presidency happened in the first moments of the “60 Minutes” interview. When asked “You’re okay with some tough questions?” The president responded simply.
“No, I’m not.”