Donald Trump is a scary, scary man. I can hear you saying "no shit" from my office in DC. From his cabinet picks – nearly all of whom are unqualified for their new jobs or in the case of Jeff Sessions, qualified on paper but good gotdamn – to the potential Supreme Court picks, we’re in for a society defining four years in America. And not in a good way.
He’s been in office for not even a full week and hell has broken loose. We’ve been gifted terms like “alternative facts” which would be hilarious if it wasn't real life. Sean Spicer, bless his heart, probably has had Resume Builder open on his desktop computer at all times since taking this job as the White House Press Secretary. He’s had to come out and lie about the numbers at inauguration AND voter fraud. Even if he drinks Folgers, I imagine there aren’t too many great parts about waking up for him. Shit, he has to check Twitter JUST to see if his boss went off the reservation while everybody was sleeping.
Think about that: The White House Press Secretary probably wakes up and the first thing he does is check Twitter to see if his boss said anything he’ll have to defend.
This brings us to the heart of the matter: Donald Trump gives all the fucks. His ego is titanic, both literally and figuratively. There are no individuals too big or too small to address directly, something that he’s proven time and time again. Both the inauguration fiasco AND the voter fraud bull malarkey are 100 percent about ego. Only in Trump's America is the President worried about being a big draw like he’s fucking Bruno Mars.
The voter fraud shit is especially stupid. He’s been running around claiming that he won fair and square – bigly – and here he is NOW undermining the entire process. He also seems to think that if there was voter fraud - because Hillary won the popular vote - without thinking, at all, that IF there was voter fraud to the tune of 3-5 million (we’re talking ABC’s Scandal level shenanigans here), that possibly it would invalidate his OWN presidency.
But because this is Donald Trump, he can’t leave well enough alone. He needs to win so he does what any person who has to win does: doubles down.
Regarding the inauguration numbers - including a clear set of lies from the use of magnetometers to the grass coverings, of which he required Sean Spicer to tell for no real reason since it doesn’t matter in the grand scheme - he went and had a picture of inauguration framed and is allegedly putting it up on a wall in the White House, even if it has the wrong date on it. Apparently Slim Charles is Trump's ego-maniacal muse. I wouldn't flinch if he had "We Fight On That Lie" carved into the Resolute Desk.
However, calling for an investigation into the alleged voter fraud that didn’t occur during this election in WHICH HE WON? That’s an impressive level of megalomania even by Trump standards. Levying claims that fraud existed and forcing Sean Spicer to walk into the lion’s den and talk about it based on some “studies” (of which the authors, assuming this particular study is what he’s referencing, claim he misinterpreted) is beyond reckless. Why would you call for an investigation into something that you have no tangible proof of to begin with? He doesn’t even have an inkling. He had a thought because folks keep telling him that Hillary won the popular vote and because he is the Trump, that should be impossible.
People need to stop using the word “won” around him.
Further, let’s say they determine there was fraud, wouldn’t that invalidate this entire election? This one sided bet where he’s assuming a bunch of “illegals” voted, giving Hillary the popular vote tally, would signal, probably the biggest scandal in American electoral history. People already think their votes don’t matter and many sat this one out already, how does this HELP that process? You want to make a mockery of the entire democratic system that put you in power? Sometimes its okay to sit your ass down somewhere.
I really don’t think Donald Trump gets it. He doesn’t understand that his words have power now. Before this election, he could say what he wanted, walk it back, and folks would forget about it eventually. Now, his words can affect the economy or our standing in the world.
AND WE HAVEN’T EVEN TALKED ABOUT ANYTHING POLICY RELATED YET.
Part of me thinks this non-sense is a smokescreen to distract from all of the executive orders he’s signing, some of which are more concerning than others (while some are just principled statements without much force of law). While we’re talking about “alternative facts” and inauguration numbers and voter fraud, and as Trump lies and his staff lies directly to the people, all of the policy that matters is happening in the background.
And that’s the problem, Trump has shit to say about anything policy related short of words like “sad,” “it will be big,” “trust me,” and “amazing.” But once his ego is involved, he’s doubling and tripling down and gives a fuck about it all. There is nothing he doesn’t care about on a personal level and there is nobody whose opinion he isn’t listening to. And he’s our the damn President.
Donald Trump is a child with the nuclear codes at his side every day for the next four years who is more sensitive and petty than 50 Cent.
Only 1,378 days until the next presidential election.