This has been another terrible, horrible, no good, very bad week for Donald Trump. It began with a string of post-convention polls that show Joe Biden increasing his lead over Trump nationally, as well as in most of the critical battleground states. And it ended with an article that exposed his repugnant comments about fallen American soldiers being “losers” and “suckers,” which even Fox News independently affirmed.

Consequently, Trump has revved up his outrage in a desperate effort to change the subject to one he believes would be more favorable to him. But once again, he’s blown it completely.

On Saturday morning Trump unleashed a 20+ tweet barrage about an issue that is wholly an invention of his perverse imagination. It began with his ordering the White House Office of Management and Budget to terminate what it says are un-American training sessions on “critical race theory.” The memo written by OMB Direct Russel Vought began…

“It has come to the President’s attention that Executive Branch agencies have spent millions of taxpayer dollars to date ‘training’ government workers to believe divisive, anti-American propaganda.

“For example, according to press reports, employees across the Executive Branch have been required to attend trainings where they are told that “virtually all White people contribute to racism” or where they are required to say that they “benefit from racism.” According to press reports, in some cases these training have further claimed that there is racism embedded in the belief that America is the land of opportunity or the belief that the most qualified person should receive a job.”

The memo fails to cite any place in the federal government where these alleged trainings are occurring. It only asserts that their existence came to Trump’s attention via unidentified “press reports.” No one is likely to be shocked to learn that the press reporting this was Fox News. Tucker Carlson’s White Nationalist Hour has lately been harping on this non-issue. He has hosted guests claiming that “critical race theory” is behind this effort to “engender division and resentment within the Federal workforce.” And if anyone knows about engendering division and resentment it’s Carlson and Trump. The memo continued…

“The President has directed me to ensure that Federal agencies cease and desist from using taxpayer dollars to fund these divisive, un-American propaganda training sessions. Accordingly, to that end, the Office of Management and Budget will shortly issue more detailed guidance on implementing the President’s directive. In the meantime, all agencies are directed to begin to identify all contracts or other agency spending related to any training on ‘critical race theory,’ ‘white privilege,’ or any other training or propaganda effort that teaches or suggests either (1) that the United States is an inherently racist or evil country or (2) that any race or ethnicity is inherently racist or evil. In addition, all agencies should begin to identify all available avenues within the law to cancel any such contracts and/or to divert Federal dollars away from these un-American propaganda training sessions.”

For the record, critical race theory is not the bureaucratic horror story that the Trump regime is portraying it as. It is a scholarly “attempt to understand how victims of systemic racism are affected by cultural perceptions of race and how they are able to represent themselves to counter prejudice.” So naturally our viscerally racist president is opposed to it. After all, he is the same president who lauded neo-Nazis as “very good people,” and maligned Black Lives Matters as “domestic terrorists.”

Trump’s directive to terminate federal critical race theory trainings is also notable in that there aren’t any. None! Neither are there any trainings that teach that “the United States is an inherently racist or evil country.” What he may be targeting is diversity training intended to address and reduce racial and other prejudices in the workplace.

However, the purpose of his determination to concoct a phony controversy is obvious. He needs a diversion from the other horrendous news that is engulfing him and his floundering presidency. He is in a state of utter panic as his reelection prospects continue to wither. And his frantic morning tweetstorm is just further evidence of how desperate he has become.

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