I've written about Trump before, so most of you know where I stand when it comes to him. However, some of his actions and statements since being sworn in as president in January illustrate - in glaring lights that rival Times Square - the extent to which Donald Trump may be the biggest hypocrite of all.
For instance, remember in 2013 when Trump was on Twitter lambasting Obama for getting involved in Syria? In case you've forgotten, here are some examples of the things he said:
Pretty straightforward, right? The U.S. should stay out of Syria and, if we're not going to, Obama needed get Congressional approval before attacking them. So, what does Trump do during his first 100 days in office? He bombs Syria without first getting Congressional approval. In other words, he does the very thing he told Obama he shouldn't do a few years ago. That's a little hypocritical, don't you think? Whether you agree that we should or should not get involved in Syria (I say we shouldn't) and whether or not the president needs to get Congressional approval before carrying out a military action is irrelevant. The bottom line is he did the exact thing for which he previously criticized Obama, a textbook example of hypocrisy.
Another thing that Trump frequently complained about when Obama was in office was the amount of time he spend away from Washington - while playing golf or vacationing with his family. Do you need a refresher on those? OK, here you go:
So what has Trump done during his first 4 months in office? He's made countless trips to the golf course and to his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. He's spent a far higher percentage of his time doing those things so far during his presidency than Obama did. Once again, I'm not necessarily defending Obama. I'm simply pointing out that Trump is, once again, doing the very things for which he excoriated his predecessor. Again, that's pretty much the definition of hypocrisy.
Then, last week, Trump put the icing of the hypocrisy cake when he criticized recently fired FBI director James Comey as being "a showboat" and "a grand stander." Seriously? This coming from a guy whose entire brand is BUILT on being a showboat and grand stander. This is a guy who kicked off his campaign for president by riding down an escalator in a posh building with his much younger, supermodel wife. This is a guy whose first inclination is to slap his last name on everything he touches, from office buildings and casinos to steaks and fake universities. It's the business world equivalent of a dog peeing on every tree in the neighborhood to mark his territory. This is a guy who called his principal opponents during the presidential primaries "Crooked Hillary" and "Lyin' Ted" while surrounding himself with yes men who will regularly lie....oops....put forth "alternative facts" for him and, when they don't cotton to that, he fires them. Everything about Trump is gratuitous and ostentatious, from his ridiculous hair and orange skin to his string of model wives and gaudy, gold plated office buildings. The man may be the greatest showboat and grand stander to ever grace the streets of Washington, D.C. and he wants to point the finger at someone else and criticize them for doing what he's made a ridiculous living doing? That, my friends, is the very height of hypocrisy.
Something tells me that, before his presidency is over, he will have many more chances to up the hypocrisy game to levels we've never seen before. A part of me thinks he wants to go down in a blaze of ignominy just to be able to brag that he created a bigger mess than even Nixon. He'd probably wear impeachment and removal from office as a badge of honor, that he was the first president to ever accomplish the feat. It's just the sort of thing that a showboat and grand stander would do.
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