In yet another display of desperation, Donald Trump sought to misdirect people’s attention from the voluminous flow of bad news that is threatening to overwhelm him. So he took to Twitter on Tuesday to blast out a parade of blatantly false rants in the hopes of taking the spotlight off his crumbling presidency. They included a slap at Harley Davidson, a crackpot conspiracy about Obama and Iran, some nonsense about the economy, and an insult to Maxine Waters.

However, the most unhinged blathering of the day was in a tweet that took credit for progress with North Korea that was totally imaginary. Trump’s self-exaltation ignored the fact that his own intelligence agencies have learned that Kim Jong Un has actually been advancing his nuclear facilities, not dismantling them. But the facts notwithstanding, Trump tweets that “If not for me, we would now be at War with North Korea!”

Many good conversations with North Korea-it is going well! In the meantime, no Rocket Launches or Nuclear Testing in 8 months. All of Asia is thrilled. Only the Opposition Party, which includes the Fake News, is complaining. If not for me, we would now be at War with North Korea!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 3, 2018

Of course it was only Trump’s infantile tantrums that led to the threat of war in the first place. He can hardly take credit now for reducing the tensions by giving Kim everything he wanted without preconditions, certification, or verification. And while most of the Fox News roster of Trump-fluffers has leaped aboard his runaway train, there is one who has his feet planted firmly on the ground.

Shepard Smith addressed the issue of Trump’s negotiations with Kim in a segment on Tuesday’s program. He was interviewing former CIA analyst Tara Maller, who noted that “We’re not any closer to getting towards denuclearization,” and that “All we’ve seen up until now are a lot of words.” Smith agreed saying that “Goals are great. [But the] Reality is awful,” and that North Korea was making “the exact same promise that North Korea has made and broken for decades.” But then he added this:

“I don’t understand who they think they’re kidding here. First, we had maximum sanctions and the world together said ‘no north Korea, no north Korea, no north Korea. Then we got together, took some pictures, said some words, and now the expansion continues. Things seem to be worse. And yet the threats of sanctions and all the rest went away.”

Let me clear up the matter of who Trump thinks he’s kidding. It’s all the the brain-dead Trump cultists who believe everything he says, no matter how delusional. And most of the Fox News audience who have lost all ability to discern fact from obvious bullshit. Smith deserves some credit for recognizing that Trump’s deliberately false tirades have no basis in reality and shouldn’t fool anyone. But he needs to accept that it’s his colleagues at Fox News who are propagating Trump’s lies with the intention of deceiving viewers. That’s who Trump thinks he’s kidding, and he’s right.

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