Former President Trump tells more lies than there are stars in heaven, but he’s once again outdoing himself when it comes to explaining why he stored classified documents at Mar-a-Lago. This humble spirit’s personal favorite is that he declassified them merely by thinking about it (talk about illusions of omnipotence!), but as usual, Trump has a lie for everyone. His latest rationale is that he didn’t return the boxes as requested because the documents were mixed in with his personal possessions (including golf shirts) and he didn’t have time to sort through everything given how busy he is. He was also caught on tape talking about a specific document that describes America’s plans for attacking Iran; he admitted it was classified, but then he denied the document’s existence and claimed it had been declassified at that point anyway. It’s all too reminiscent of the explanations Trump’s Republican allies in Congress devised to try to explain away the January 6th Capitol insurrection: it was a false flag operation; it was like any other day of tourists, etc. To call such absurdities “lies” is an insult to every lie ever told, let alone the American public.
Trump wants us to believe he’s being persecuted by President Biden’s “weaponized” Department of Justice (DOJ) and the “deep state,” claims for which there is no evidence. Regardless of the facts, he portrays himself as a martyred victim, going so far as to say that it’s really his MAGA followers the “deep state” is after (“an illegal psychological warfare campaign against Americans,” he calls it). This is a common approach among demagogues and dictators, but it’s increasingly evident that Trump wants even more.
“Jesus is My Savior. Trump is My President.”
When he first ran for president in 2016, Trump claimed he was his supporters’ “voice,” but following his 2020 defeat and birth of “the big lie,” it evolved into “retribution,” and most recently it became his “persecution,” including “I’m being indicted for you.” Does this raving narcissist and ego maniac truly believe he’s Jesus on the cross suffering and dying on behalf of his MAGA supporters?! Some of his most fanatical supporters honestly believe he is a messiah, but now he’s taking it a step further. As the MAGA t-shirt says, “Jesus is my savior. Trump is my president.”
If Trump gets enough MAGAs on his south Florida jury it might keep him out of prison, but it’s an awfully high-risk strategy compared to simply returning the documents as originally requested or cutting a deal (what happened to the “Art of the Deal”?) with Jack Smith and the DOJ before things reached this point.
MAGA Roller Derby Queens Try to Impeach President Biden.
Did you hear about the confrontation on the House floor between those two delightful and talented far-right MAGA Congresswomen, Margorie Taylor Greene and Lauren Boebert? If only one of them had thrown a punch we could have had a real knock-down drag-out cat fight reminiscent of the great roller derby queens of yesteryear. The argument was over who would take credit for impeaching President Biden for his handling of immigration at the southern border (“President Biden has intentionally facilitated a complete and total invasion at the southern border.”). The bill was promptly sent to committee, where it will likely stay, but what a waste of taxpayer money—instead of working on constructive policy initiatives to substantively improve America’s immigration system, these members of the “Freedom Caucus” spend their time grandstanding for their fiercely anti-immigrant base. After calling Boebert the b-word, the indefatigable Greene, working with GOP Conference Chair Elise Stefanik, quickly turned her attention to a bill “expunging” Trump’s two impeachments, the exact meaning and fate of which remains unclear. Have you considered getting a life, Marjorie?