In Front of Our Noses
Trump attacks the Pope on Truth Social, You know, as one does.
Given that this was part of the news headlines on NPR this morning, and is being widely reported, it is, in some ways, already old news. Or, at least, it is sort of a “dog bites man” story insofar as President Trump posting a screed on social media almost doesn’t rate as news, except, of course, for the fact that he uses it to announce actual policy (such as declaring the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz will begin at 10 am eastern time).
I must confess I am struggling to even find the right words to describe this, as everything I come up with sounds either inadequate, cartoonish, or cliched (because anyone who writes about this presidency has already talked about his narcissism, his sociopathy, and so forth).
Is it a rant? A screed? Is it unhinged? Is it unpresidential? Is it full of lies? Is it inappropriate? Is it unproductive? Is it thin-skinned? Is it juvenile?
Yes to all of that, and more.
Worse, it is not even the worst thing he has posted on Truth Social this month! We started last week with threats of civilizational destruction of Iran.
It is all exhausting.
But, to the point of this series, the truth of Orwell’s statement continues to be deeply true: “To see what is in front of one’s nose needs a constant struggle.”
It is also exhausting.
The following is remarkable for a lot of reasons, but let me note especially two.
- This is simply not something a president should be saying, let alone in this form and fashion.
- The fact that my first impulse was to ignore it, because it is just “Trump being Trump” underscores how problematic a leader he is.
To that second point, I would illustrate as follows. When Aunt Alice goes off on her latest racial rant, and we all just say, “Well, that’s Aunt Alice, what are you going to do?” or when Uncle Fred drinks too much and passes out again, and we all just say, “That’s Fred, what are you going to do?” it is beause we have gotten to the point that the problematic behavior is just part of who they are. That’s not great for Alice, Fred, or the rest of us, but at least the behavior in question is limited to our living room.
This is the President of the United States!
The Baptist News Global had the following write-up: In post full of lies, Trump lambastes Pope Leo.
And, indeed, the post is full of lies and exaggerations.
Note, Trump did not win in a landslide. He won a plurality of the vote and beat Harris by 1.47% of the popular vote. That is not a landslide.
And I did find two examples of pastors being arrested during COVID, one in Florida and another in Louisiana. They happened in March and April of 2020. Guess who was president at the time?
Just to add a little sweetener to the unhinged of it all, Trump posted the following 46 minutes later:
So, on Easter Sunday, the man was dropping f-bombs. Today, he is posting images of himself in the role of Jesus Christ.
Sure. This is all normal and defensible.
Look at all the white people!
I liked the part where Trump declared that the Pope shouldn’t criticize the US President.
Kinda like we’re doing the Investiture Controversy again.
Also, no actual Christian would ever tolerate or forgive the message of that crappy AI picture.
Evangelicals gave up on Jesus Christ, that’s how Trump got elected. People today have short attention spans, they can’t wait 2,000 years to have sky daddy smite the people who need smiting – trans people, gay people, brown people, liberals, women who have not bred little white babies. So there will be some performative grumbling and then his poll support won’t move because Evangelicals are CHINOs, Christians In Name Only. They are white supremacist Christofascists, not followers of Christ in any meaningful sense. For white evangelicals, Trump is Jesus and Jesus is Trump and they wallow together in the sewer of Christian moral collapse.
This!
Although I am impressed that he got the Baptist News Global to defend the Pope.
@Gregory Lawrence Brown:
And the ICE angels!
(At first I thought they were military, but they seem to have masks 🙁 )
Someone should ask Leavitt if this is Trump’s proposal to replace Obamacare.
Is he healing the sick or stealing their soul?
How would Trump profit by stealing a soul (whatever that is)?
It’s their wallet that he is after!
I’m very impressed by Mr. Trump’s image as a widely beloved healer. It would be more impressive if we tortured him to death and waited for him to rise after three days. I have plenty of nails; do any of you have extra wood?
@Slugger:
I’d prefer a Tantalus type torture, where what would recede when EL Taco reached for it are money and adulation. He can have all the hamberders and diet cokes he wants.
El Taco deleted his blasphemous post.
Choice quote:
Look in front of your nose, Megan. It’s right there. El Taco feels nothing but contempt for you and your beliefs, he revels in mockery, and he thinks you’re as stupid as he is. Really, in front of your nose. It’s been there all along.