Trump Goes to Town
On Wednesday night, Trump held a "Town Hall" event on Fox. By the way, that by itself is worth noting for a reason that has slipped through the cracks. Earlier, his lawyers had asked for a delay in his fraud trial, using as an excuse that his wife’s mother had died, and he had to be with her. The request was denied – and to show how grieving he was and how comforting for his wife, he did the “Town Hall” broadcast on Fox.
I didn’t watch, hoping as best I could to retain my sanity, but did see a few excerpts which stood out like as if an arsenal of Klieg lights were shining on them.
The first of note came when he was about the investigation report which Jamie Raskin presented several days ago at the House Government Oversight Committee hearing. It showed from very little data -- only available for just two years of his time in office -- that his businesses received over $8 million from 20 foreign governments. And the most of that came from China and Saudi Arabia. What was so amazing was his almost clueless, tone-deaf response: “I was doing services for them,” he said, thinking that mad it okay, adding, “I don’t get $8 million for doing nothing!”
Services?? To a foreign government?? For starters, usually people have to register as a foreign agent to do that. But then – as long as we’re going for “usually” – usually, one isn't a President of the United States getting paid for providing services to foreign government! (Or in Trump’s case, make that “governments,” plural.) And, of course, there has been no gut-wrenching fury from Republicans. For the longest while, I’ve avoided using the “imagine if President Obama did what Trump did,” since otherwise I’d have been saying that almost every day. But this is one of the times it qualifies to be brought up. So -- imagine if President Obama or President Biden had said that??!! Or...if ANY president is U.S. history had said that! “I was doing services for them. I don’t get $8 million for doing nothing!”
And keep in mind, they only had records for two of Trump’s four years in office.
And not shockingly, the Fox moderators didn’t follow-up on this. In fairness, why would they? It’s only a former president admitting on camera to them that he was paid $8 million from 20 foreign governments for services. As if he’s a concierge. Which, perhaps, in some ways, he was.
But of course, it’s even worse. (And yes, that’s possible.) After all, as I noted yesterday, a president providing "services" to a foreign government, in particular China, for money is exactly – exactly!!! -- what the House Government Oversight Committee insists they're looking into about President Biden receiving payments from China through his son Hunter!! And, as we know, they haven't found the slightest evidence that President Biden did anything -- yet... there is Trump himself saying on camera that he did!! After all, in his own words, he doesn’t “get $8 million for doing nothing!”
Mind you, I’d love to know what those services he provided were – not just to China and Saudi Arabia, but all 20 foreign governments. It’s my hope (and expectation) that Special Counsel Jack Smith had members of his staff watching Trump’s Town Hall. Honestly, I’m sure he did. Whether Trump’s admission falling under Smith’s purview is another matter.
But that exchange was only one of the two (so far) from Trump at the “Town Hall” that leaped out. In some ways, the other was more important. Which is saying a lot, given the other was acknowledging he received $8 million from 20 foreign governments for services. But that’s only admitting to a crime. The other was evidence of his failing mental capacities over something that ultimately caused the deaths of over a million American lives.
Trump was asked about what he thought was the cause of the COVID pandemic. And, trust me, his answer is not what you will be expecting. Really. No, honest. Are you sitting down? Okay, good. What he said was --
“I think it was done out of incompetence. I think, I believe that a scientist went out, said hello to his girlfriend, and that was the end of that. She died and then people started dying all over the place. But who knows, who knows?”
So, who had that on their Bingo card? “The pandemic started because a scientist said hello to his girlfriend.”
I’m sure many people won’t believe this, so as they say in sports, let’s go to the video.
Putting aside that he’s still trying to make this about China and doesn’t want to call it “COVID,” which is its actual name, this is from the guy who in the same “Town Hall” talked about how safe his administration was, because government records show that no terrorists got into the country in 2016 – and…and he wasn’t president in 2016!!! Barack Obama was. And yes, again, of course, the Fox moderators didn’t correct him on this pesky fact.
But to Trump, the pandemic was caused by a scientist saying hello to his girlfriend, and she died. And there was a pandemic all over the world.
Hey, who knows, perhaps this is where he got “Person, woman, man, camera, TV” from.
All I could think when I first saw this was -- O dear God, I dearly hope he offers this suggestion when he has a presidential debate.
By the way, even if an alternate universe what Trump believes about how the pandemic began was true, it doesn't excuse his "It'll be all over in a few weeks, like a miracle." And it’s just like the flu. And drink bleach. And no need to wear masks.
And that’s just two, very short segments from the “Town Hall.” (Or three, if you include him getting wrong when he was president.)
And it doesn't include him saying at the end of the video that he got $400 billion from China in tariffs and taxes -- which is a total lie. Because the tariffs and taxes are paid by the companies importing the products, which were passed along to the American consumer. Something that will certainly be corrected in a debate by President Biden.
This is why I keep suggesting that it’s only after Trump and President Biden are officially nominated and running against one another that any polls matter. Right now, I think, people aren’t paying any attention to the election which is a year off, and they are reacting only on personal approval of each – Democrats, being Democrats, voice their support and criticisms of their party’s leader, and Republicans looooove Trump -- and only the most loyal Republicans are paying most of the attention on Trump’s events and what he says. But once the race is on, then the voting public will start to focus on the election. And what the candidates say. And on the reality that One of These Two Men Will Be the Next President. And seeing Trump regularly do things like this, and under four indictments, and the pressure making him even more angst-ridden and crazed, and then one-on-one with Joe Biden on a debate stage. And at that point – the election, I think, will be very different than it is now.
A very stable genius, indeed.
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