Robert Meyer
It's the easiest thing in the world to believe just about anything said about a person you dislike. During the 2012 election season, Barack Obama said, during a political rally, “If they bring a knife to the fight, we bring a gun.” I really didn't care for Obama's policies and never voted for him, but I recognized what he was saying here was a metaphor for the idea that you have to out hustle your opponent. I never would have interpreted that to mean that Obama was calling for violence.
Notice that the same analysis is never the case with Donald Trump. Trump is constantly deconstructed by his critics, in that his words and phrases are always given an interpretation independent of his own intended meaning. When the media or Trump detractors take tongue-in-cheek comments by Trump and treat them as literalisms, my own thought is that they believe the American public is too stupid to figure out what is going on.
A case in point is the recent claim that Trump says that he is going to be a dictator. Trump has suggested the comment was made in jest, but why would he have had to say that unless it was deemed to have been a serious assertion in the first place? Links to two pieces about that issue below.
'We were having fun': Trump says plans to be a dictator were 'said in jest' – Raw Story
News Nation host Chris Cuomo also blasted those who say Trump will be a threat to democracy.
‘Not A Threat To Democracy’: Chris Cuomo Torpedoes Dems’ Claim That Trump Would Be ‘Dictator’ – IJR
Look at all the claims either promoted by, or at least never corrected by, the media.
Supposedly Trump said "there will be a bloodbath if I lose," implying a bloody revolution will take place. The extended quote is directly below.
"China now is building a couple of massive plants where they're going to build the cars in Mexico and think, they think, that they're going to sell those cars into the United States with no tax at the border.
Let me tell you something, to China, if you're listening, President Xi — and you and I are friends, but he understands the way I deal — those big, monster car-manufacturing plants that you're building in Mexico right now, and you think you're going to get that, you're going to not hire Americans, and you're going to sell the cars to us?
No, we're going to put a 100% tariff on every single car that comes across the line, and you're not going to be able to sell those cars if I get elected. Now, if I don't get elected, it's going to be a bloodbath for the whole — that's going to be the least of it, it's going to be a bloodbath for the country, that'll be the least of it. But they're not going to sell those cars, they're building massive factories."
Obviously, the bloodbath Trump is talking about is an economic issue, but the media doesn't bother to clarify that.
Donald Trump supposedly said that White Supremacists were very fine people in reference to the removal of a statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee. Fact check of the incident is below.
No, Trump Did Not Call Neo-Nazis and White Supremacists 'Very Fine People' , Snopes.com
Trump actually condemned White Supremacists, but then said that there were "very fine people" on both sides of the issue of whether to remove or maintain the statue in place as a historical icon.
If one wonders how someone could have praise for a general that fought for the Confederacy, they should know that Abraham Lincoln himself thought so highly of Lee's leadership, that he offered Lee the command of the Union Army at the outset of the civil war.
People make the claim that Trump said that injecting or imbibing (depending on the source) disinfectant could kill Covid. His comments are below.
"A question that probably some of you are thinking of if you’re totally into that world, which I find to be very interesting. So, supposedly we hit the body with a tremendous, whether it’s ultraviolet or just very powerful light, and I think you said that hasn’t been checked, but you’re going to test it. And then I said supposing you brought the light inside the body, which you can do either through the skin or in some other way. (To Bryan) And I think you said you’re going to test that, too. Sounds interesting, right?"
"And then I see the disinfectant, where it knocks it out in one minute. And is there a way we can do something like that, by injection inside or almost a cleaning, because you see it gets in the lungs and it does a tremendous number on the lungs, so it’d be interesting to check that, so that you’re going to have to use medical doctors with, but it sounds interesting to me. So, we’ll see, but the whole concept of the light, the way it kills it in one minute. That’s pretty powerful."
Again, Trump was raising a question about medical technology, not making a claim about a cure.
When one asks for an example of Trump's multitude of alleged lies, the rejoinder I most frequently hear is that Trump claimed Mexico would pay for the border wall.
[Trump stated in offering an explanation, "I said they're going to pay for it. They are." He explained that Mexico would pay for the wall, which he now says will be a steel barrier, through the reduced trade deficit he believes will result from his renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement.]
Trump never asserted that Mexico's president has waiting at the border with an armored car loaded gold bars, but that they would pay via a more favorable renegotiation of a trade agreement. All these issues and more are obvious mischaracterizations of claims made by Trump that go unchallenged by the media.
There are no doubt numerous people who won't vote for Trump because of his character issues. But some of those issues would be mitigated if the truth about Trump's positions and statements were actually brought to light. I don't believe that among the elites, Trump is rejected because of his improprieties. The same people excused Bill Clinton for misdeeds that actually occurred during his presidency.
I believe the real reason Trump is so hated is because of his assault on the establishment. On October 13th, 2016, Trump gave a populist speech in West Palm Beach, Florida. Below is a short excerpt from the speech and a link to the full transcript. You decide for yourself!
"...Our movement is about replacing a failed and corrupt — now, when I say “corrupt,” I’m talking about totally corrupt — political establishment, with a new government controlled by you, the American people. There is nothing the political establishment will not do — no lie that they won’t tell, to hold their prestige and power at your expense. And that’s what’s been happening.
The Washington establishment and the financial and media corporations that fund it exist for only one reason: to protect and enrich itself. The establishment has trillions of dollars at stake in this election. As an example, just one single trade deal they’d like to pass involves trillions of dollars, controlled by many countries, corporations and lobbyists.
For those who control the levers of power in Washington, and for the global special interests, they partner with these people that don’t have your good in mind. Our campaign represents a true existential threat like they haven’t seen before.
This is not simply another four-year election. This is a crossroads in the history of our civilization that will determine whether or not we the people reclaim control over our government. The political establishment that is trying to stop us is the same group responsible for our disastrous trade deals, massive illegal immigration and economic and foreign policies that have bled our country dry..."
Transcript: Donald Trump Speech in West Palm Beach Florida, October 13, 2016, Quemado Institute
© Robert MeyerThe views expressed by RenewAmerica columnists are their own and do not necessarily reflect the position of RenewAmerica or its affiliates.
