I don’t think it’s wise to parse the words of someone as erratic and incompetent as Donald Trump, but this recent tweet is a real doozy and demands a little scrutiny.
Take a look.
Let’s dig in.
First, we have the President claiming that the book is boring. But the only way to determine if a book is boring is to actually read the book, which we know Trump did not do because:
- Trump doesn’t read.
- Trump tweeted this less than 24 hours after the book was published. Even if he did read books (and he doesn’t), he didn’t have time to read a book of this length over the course of a day, especially while serving as President.
It’s both strange and disconcerting that Trump would not see the transparency of this obvious lie.
Second, we have the President claiming that Wolff “made up stories” to sell this “untruthful” book. But Trump knows that Wolff, who reputation for the truth is admittedly not pristine, has recordings of many of the conversations used to write this book.
Is he hoping Wolff won’t release these recordings or allow a third party to listen for verification?
Even worse, we know most of these stories to be true already. They are consistent with reporting emerging from the West Wing all year. Sources have been leaking this kind of information about Trump and his staff ever since Trump took office. While the book is a bombshell, it’s not exactly entirely new information.
Also, why doesn’t Trump realize that every time he criticizes this book or attacks the author, Wolff sells more books? This should be exceptionally obvious, and yet Trump continues to attack. First, he ineffectually sued to prevent the book’s publication (which only results in the publisher releasing the book four days earlier), and since then, he has criticized it verbally and on Twitter again and again.
It’s going to be a New York Times #1 bestseller, thanks in large part to Trump.
I can only pray that Trump would attack one of my books with equal ferocity.
Now we get to the most interesting and incomprehensible aspect of this tweet. Trump says:
“He used Sloppy Steve Bannon, who cried when he got fired and begged for his job.”
There is so much here.
- If Wolff “used Steve Bannon,” who had unfettered access to the West Wing as Trump’s chief strategist for most of 2017, then Wolff had at least one very significant source for this book, and Trump just acknowledged it.
- When Bannon left the White House in late August, Sarah Huckabee Sanders stated that it was a “mutual decision.” Trump had nothing but praise for Bannon at the time. So was Sanders lying about this mutual decision? Was Trump lying about his effusive praise? Does Trump not see that reversing a story four months later makes him and his spokesperson a liar back then or a liar now?
- How does telling the world that someone cried as you terminated their employment make you look like anything other than a despicable, reprehensible, untrustworthy human being? How does anyone ever work for a man who would do this kind of thing? When has any employer in the history of the world revealed that an employee cried in response to being fired? Does Trump not realize that revealing that Bannon cried only serves to make Bannon seem more human and Trump appear even more rotten than before?
- Does anyone really believe that Bannon cried? Anyone?
Then Trump says that Bannon has been “dumped like a dog” by almost everyone.
Who dumps dogs?
Dumped like a bag of steaming garbage? Sure.
Dumped like a bad habit? Fine.
But who dumps man’s best friend? Apparently Trump does.
Then Trump closes with “Too bad!”
What does this mean?
- Is Trump reflecting back upon his and Steve’s previously joyous moments in the Oval Office?
- Is he expressing regret for the deterioration of their relationship?
- Is he worried about the future financial viability of his one time friend?
- Or is it the “Too bad!” of a sarcastic, middle school bully who is purposefully deflecting emotional attachment and feelings while trying to hurt another?
According to the many accounts in Wolff’s book, it’s the latter. The one consistent theme running throughout the book is that Trump acts like a petulant child in need of immediate gratification. As a result, these final two words of this tweet only serve to further support the case for the book and its accuracy.
This petulant, angry, insulting, defensive, untruthful tweet was written by the President of the United States. This is how he spends his time. This is how he serves the American people.
I’d tell Trump how I feel about his tweet directly, but he blocked me on Twitter earlier this year.
Damn coward.
