2016 June 19^th

Eugene Robinson, Washington Post’s premier columnist (in my opinion at least), has a column this morning titled “Donald Trump’s relentless assault on the truth.” Robinson then demonstrates the accuracy of his accusation with many examples.

For Trump the truth is whatever he says it is at the moment he says it. A New York Times reporter, Serge Kovaleski, has a neuromuscular condition that causes his arms to move spastically. Trump took issue with something Kovaleski wrote about him regarding his claim that thousands of Muslims in New Jersey were cheering as the 9/11 towers fell. Trump, refusing to be politically correct, read refusing to engage in civil discourse, felt it necessary to mimic the reporter’s disability. This antic brought down enough criticism that Trump subsequently denied having done any such thing. Unfortunately for Trump, the video evidence of his mocking actions have been played over and over again. No matter, he still denies it happened.

He told his Texas audience that had the patrons at Pulse, the Orlando nightclub where the carnage occurred, just been armed, the shooter would have been killed immediately. Isn’t it amazing that a couple of armed civilians could have eliminated this carnage when three armed and trained police officers couldn’t manage it.

Possibilities for keeping the patrons of Pulse safe had nothing whatever to do with Trump’s comments about guns. Trump was in Texas and as is usual for him, he was looking for applause lines. If you are in Texas and you tell your audience that everyone should have guns, you’ll get wild applause. Of course no one with a gun will be allowed into one of Mr. Trump’s events, even events in Texas, and no one attending Trump’s Texas talks pointed that out.

In spite of Trump’s almost certain domination of the Texas electorate, he still spends time campaigning in a state he is certain to win in the general election. Why would he do that? Why isn’t he campaigning in purple states where he might have a chance to move the electorate solidly in his favor? Trump is addicted to adulation; it is that simple. He cannot risk rejection, or the chance of a lukewarm reception, or a half-empty hall…and he will not risk it. This is the same reason he “relentlessly assaults the truth.” Telling lies about his antagonists produces wild applause from his supporters and that sustains him.

When his poll numbers were favorable, he referred to them incessantly; now that he is nine points behind Clinton in national polls he doesn’t bring them up. He doesn’t care about polls now because, if he chooses carefully, he can still fill an auditorium with thousands of cheering fans and those fans are all he cares about. When the fans dwindle sufficiently, Donald Trump will disappear.