Still Not Presidential: Trump’s D-Day TelePrompTer Spiel Marred By Disgraceful Political Rant

On the 75th Anniversary of the D-Day landings in Normandy, Donald Trump delivered a well-crafted speech paying tribute to both the fallen heroes and our wartime allies. He particularly distinguished himself by not wandering off-script and into one of his notoriously deranged, self-serving, and hostile tirades directed at his perceived political foes. And right on cue, much of the press covering the event remarked with some measure of astonishment that Trump might have finally become “presidential” and grown into the job.

Donald Trump, Presidenty

Really? How many times does this have to happen? On several occasions during his tumultuous presidency, Trump has managed stick to the words prepared for him by his professional speech writers. And each time he completes that feat the media fawns over him and his allegedly newfound respectability. But without exception Trump has disappointed them by reverting to his normal boorish self, usually within a few hours.

This time was apparently no different. Shortly after Trump delivered his premasticated oratory, Fox News released a clip of an interview he did with one of their primetime Trump-fluffers, Laura Ingraham. She sat with him for this insolent banter at the Normandy American Cemetery. Ingraham initiated the inappropriate dialog with a blatantly political question about whether he would mind if special counsel Robert Mueller testified before Congress. Trump mustered up his trademark loathsomeness and offered this reply (video below):

“He made such a fool out of himself because, what people don’t report is the letter he had to do to straighten out his testimony because his testimony was wrong.”

First of all, Trump is confused because there has not been any “testimony” by Mueller. And let’s just set aside the fact that Trump is now staunchly opposed to Mueller testifying about the report that he says exonerates him. Because all innocent people want to suppress what they contend is proof of their innocence, don’t they? Also, it’s unseemly for Trump (a five time draft dodger) to be attacking Mueller (a decorated war hero) on this occasion, and at this place.

The meat that goes along with this whine is Trump’s assertion that Mueller “made a fool out of himself” because of some mysterious letter that allegedly admitted he was wrong about something that Trump fails to identify. The only plausible letter that Trump could be referencing is one that Mueller put out after his press conference on the completion of his investigation. But that letter merely affirmed his position on the relevence of a Justice Departemnt memo regarding whether a president could be indicted while still on office. The letter didn’t change anything about what Mueller said in either his press conference, or in the report itself. He stood by his conclusions that his office “would not reach a determination…about whether the President committed a crime” and that “if we had had confidence that the president clearly did not commit a crime, we would have said so.”

Of course, Trump wasn’t through embarrassing himself and America. For the second time in a week he breached diplomatic protocol by devolving into rank politics while overseas. His comments about House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (complete with a new, infantile nickname) were bizarrely unprovoked and insulting:

“But Nancy Pelosi, I call her Nervous Nancy, Nancy Pelosi doesn’t talk about it. Nancy Pelosi is a disaster, okay She’s a disaster. Let her do what she wants, you know what? I think they’re in big trouble.”

So while the press is all starry-eyed about Trump’s prefab speech, it’s important to remember that Trump will always be Trump. It’s a painful exercise to have to endure the media’s affinity for staged rhetoric when we know that Trump doesn’t mean a word of it, or even understands what he’s reading. And he can be counted on to revert to his customarily vile character before even a single day goes by. Just has he has done this time as well.

How Fox News Deceives and Controls Their Flock:
Fox Nation vs. Reality: The Fox News Cult of Ignorance.
Available now at Amazon.