Trump's Ego Takes a Hit, Lies Ensue
(Trump speaking with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo during a Cabinet Meeting in the Cabinet Room of the White House, Monday, Oct. 21, 2019.)
Trump held a televised cabinet meeting yesterday that was particularly unnerving and strange as he launched into a tirade against the ongoing impeachment inquiry by House Democrats that lasted for over an hour. He blamed Congress for a personal and unfounded attack against him and he unleashed multiple inaccuracies spanning every concept from legal principles to his own misunderstanding of how the presidency is intended to work. This latest outburst was similar to what we have seen from Trump over the past few weeks as more damning details continue to surface from members of his own State Department.
But this time, the tenor and length and level of inaccuracy displayed was likely brought on by the recent pressures to walk back his plans to host the next G7 global summit at his private golf club in Florida. In this rare instance, Trump seccumbed to pressure and advice from within his own party to cancel the event, which would have no doubt added fuel to the current impeachment investigation currently underway. Monday was a glimpse of just how much he hates having to admit he was wrong, even while he doesn’t actually admit he was wrong.
During the lengthy monologue, Trump made at least twenty false claims that included one of his favorite topics — President Obama. In riffing on Obama and North Korea, Trump said, "…But in the meantime, North Korea, I like Kim, he likes me. We get along. I respect him, he respects me. 'You could end up in a war.' President Obama told me that. He said, 'The biggest problem, I don't know how to solve it.' He told me he doesn't know how to solve it. I said, 'Did you ever call him?' 'No.' Actually, he tried 11 times. But the man on the other side, the gentleman on the other side, did not take his call. OK? Lack of respect. But [Kim Jong-un] takes my call.'"
There is no factual proof or basis that President Obama ever tried to call Kim Jong-un eleven times. Moreover, Ben Rhodes, who served as Obama's deputy national security adviser, confirmed that, "[Obama] never called Kim.” Susan Rice, Obama’s national security advisor for the time in question, confirmed via Twitter that, “This is a total fabrication.” (see tweet below.)
Trump continued his erratic behavior by calling the impeachment inquiry a “phony investigation” and even went so far as to call the Emoluments Clause of the Constitution fake. He criticized those who questioned his decision to hold the next world summit at his resort saying, “You people with this phony Emoluments Clause."
Just for reference, the Emoluments Clause is quite real and can be found in Article II, Section 1 of the U.S. Constitution. It reads, "The President shall, at stated times, receive for his services, a compensation, which shall neither be increased nor diminished during the period for which he shall have been elected, and he shall not receive within that period any other emolument from the United States, or any of them."(See video in tweet below.)
Trump then repeated his claim that he initially made to press last Thursday with regard to his ceasefire agreement with Turkey by bragging that, "People have been trying to make this deal for years." This is not only inaccurate, it makes no sense. The deal, as Trump refers to it, would not need to exist but for his specific actions to withdraw troops in the region, which forced a need to make a deal in the first place. There is no proof that Obama and George W. Bush ever sought to give Turkey anything like he has — they wouldn’t have needed to.
Trump launched into further attacks on the whistleblower as well saying, "The whistleblower gave a false account.” This is a statement Trump has repeated continually since the news of the whistleblower surfaced and there is no proof to corroborate his statements. If anything, there is proof from an independent investigation that shows that most of the accounts detailed by the whistleblower in his report are accurate. Nothing the whistleblower has said thus far has been definitively disproven.
There were more false statements made to bolster Trump’s ego that involved crowd size at his rallies. Trump claimed that about "at least" 20,000 supporters were outside the arena during his Dallas rally and that he "ha[sn]'t had an empty seat at a rally." Dallas Police Department spokesman Sgt. Mitchell Warren confirmed that this estimate was way off by telling reporters that Trump “probably had upward of 5K outside.” With regard to empty seats, there have been plenty, including this month in Minneapolis.
As Trump continued his freestyle, he hit everything from the inaccurate timeline and troop count in Syria, to misinformation on China and trade. He even made a point to lie about the size of the airport in Miami, saying it is "one of the biggest airports in the world -- some say it's the biggest." In 2018, Miami was the 13th busiest airport in the United States and 40th busiest in the world.
When Trump’s ego takes a hit, he makes sure that everyone hears about it. Unfortunately, the public was witness to one of these tantrums in real time as it happened yesterday. As the inaccuracies reach an all time high and the instability of Trump’s temperament is on display for the world to see, it’s important to note that the embarrassing event had some significant underpinnings.
First, Trump backed down on his insistence of hosting the world summit based on pressure from within his own party which means he understands their role in protecting him later down the road during an impeachment hearing. Also, he recognized that everything moving forward hinges on his re-election in 2020 and he can’t achieve this without the continued support from majority leadership, who struggle to back him daily.
Pressure continues to mount for all of those who serve the Trump administration as reports of the tense atmosphere continue to surface. Everything in Trump’s orbit appears shakey, including his relationships with GOP leadership that has only suffered since his decision to pull out of Syria. The Trump tirades are exhausting, but a good sign — they are indicative that he is unhappy because he’s being reigned in.
You can watch the entire thing here:
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Amee Vanderpool writes the “Shero” Newsletter and is an attorney, contributor to Playboy Magazine, analyst for BBC radio and Director of The Inanna Project. She can be reached at avanderpool@gmail.com or follow her on Twitter @girlsreallyrule.
Here's the thing: No Republicans are going to buck him to the point where they lose his "support". We've already seen the feckless Lindsay Graham back away from his comments about the Syrian troop pullout. Other Republicans are sure to follow.
I can’t even get through the Ben Carson ‘blessing’ to listen to the cabinet meeting