Now that the Republican National Convention and virus sharing show is finally fading from the rear view mirror, and we have a bit more perspective, it is time to share a few thoughts on the lies that Donald Trump told and what they mean to us.
If you watched MSNBC right after the convention then you probably heard Rachel Maddow debunk a long list of Trump’s claims. These included lies about China, the economy, Joe Biden, and other things. However, I don’t recall that she called out Trump on the biggest lie of all. It was the lie that brought his children to the stage of the convention to speak for him. It was the lie that Ivanka Trump in particular decide to support. It was the lie that was supported and perpetuated by the mere presence of Tiffany Trump.
It was the lie that Donald Trump cares about the people of our country. But Donald Trump doesn’t care about the country any more than he cares about his family, than he cares about his own moral obligations.
Did Donald Trump love his first wife, Ivana? No, he cheated on her with his second wife, Marla Maples. He cheated on Marla with party girls and vulnerable women. Has he been faithful to his third wife, Melania? Not if you believe Stormy Daniels or former Playboy Bunny Karen McDougal.
Even though Ivana was his first wife and the mother of his first three children (the ones most closely connected to him in business), he was particularly heartless towards her.
Sometime after the divorce, and under pressure from Trump, I am sure, Ivana tried to minimize the trauma of what had happened to her. She explained that it was not rape. It was only that Donald made love to her in a way that was not romantic, and without the gentleness that she expected.
Regardless of what Ivana said after the divorce (and the settlement) the fact remains that what she told the lawyers was a description of rape. It is also a fact that she made the accusation of rape under oath in a legal deposition, and has never legally recanted it.
Trump, ever careful to hide his dirty deeds behind a wall of legal secrecy, made sure that Ivana didn’t get a penny of his money (actually his daddy’s money, Trump has never made any of his own) in the settlement until she signed a confidentiality agreement. This agreement basically prohibits Ivana from communicating with anybody, in anyway, under any circumstance, from telling anyone or helping anyone find out what happened to them during the time they were married. Because of this agreement Ivana could not recount the horrors of his attack or even legally recant her original accusation even if she wanted. That is how tight the gag is.
But he loves his children, right? I don’t think so. The lesser daughter, Tiffany, the one that he worries is fat, was raised by her mother, Marla, in California. Alone. And has anyone seen him tossing the football around with Barron? Or using his big brain to help his son with this homework? Doubt it.
But there is still Don Jr. Ivanka, and Eric. He must love them. They joined him in the Trump family business, and they have always been eager to help him and speak up for him.
Let’s get something straight about those kids. Donald Trump did not raise them. In fact, he wasn’t around them when they were growing up and really had nothing to do with them until they were adults. Those kids were raised by their mother.
Ivana Trump has always claimed it was she who raised Don Jr., Ivanka, and Eric. She makes clear to people that she got total custody of the children even before the divorce and raised them by alone. And even when Trump accused her of being a bad mother and threatened to take custody of Don Jr. she didn’t flinch. She called his bluff, telling him still had two at home to raise and that he could take Don Jr. Before bedtime Don Jr. was back home. She makes it clear that Trump didn’t even talk to his own kids until they were in university, when they could talk business to him (and be of use to him in his business).
If Trump was never involved in their childhoods, why do his children defend him so much? Why do they speak for him and attack his enemies so strongly? Precisely because he was never there for them when they were growing up.
If you have ever known children who were victims of neglect, which is a form of child abuse, as Trump’s children obviously were, then you know that what they crave more than anything is attention and love from the negligent parent. This is why, contrary to what you think would be true, neglected children are often the best behaved and most loving children in the world. They want the love and attention that was denied to them all the years they were growing up, and they will work hard to get it.
For children who were so completely neglected by their father, this is probably the best explanation for why the Trump children talk up their father and show up for his political rallies - anything to win daddy’s love. Of course, there is always the gravy train of the Trump business empire (built on money inherited from grandpa and passed through his daddy down to Donald). This is easy money and relieves them of the need to actually go out into the world and look for work. It also explains how they seem to be able to reconcile their support for a man who ignored them and so cruelly treated their mother.
I expect that we will never know, but I would like to find out how Don Jr. feels now about his father virtually abandoning them when they were little. And how does Ivanka feel about her mother’s claim that father raped her? And does Eric ever feel angry when he sees Tiffany’s mom come to pick her up after a political rally?
No, I don’t think that Trump really feels much love for anyone in his family. Although he does seem to feel Ivanka is somehow special. That would explain all the cuddling and romantic scenes he used to do with her. Maybe he does love her in some way. Whatever it is, it is apparently not something he feels towards any of his sons or Tiffany.
Trump’s lack of concern for his family is matched by his lack of concern for his country.
When Trump was a healthy, athletic young man, and his country called him to serve in the military, he didn’t love America enough to go. So, being the spoiled trust fund baby that he has always been, he did what he always did when he had a problem: he had daddy use his money to buy his way out of the draft.
Cohen, Trump’s long time legal fixer, was given the job of tamping down criticism of Trump’s deferment during the 2016 campaign. Trump explained that he got his medical deferment because of bone spurs. But when Cohen asked for the medical records Trump gave him none and said there was no surgery. Trump simply told him to avoid specific questions from reporter and merely repeat fact that he got a deferment. And to make sure that Cohen understood his mindset he bluntly told him, “You think I am stupid, I wasn’t going to Vietnam!”
And we don’t even need to rely on Michael Cohen’s word for Trump’s evasion of military service.
Braunstein’s two daughters remember their father writing a diagnosis of bone spurs for Donald as a favor to his father, Fred. In return Braunstein got access to Fred trump and could call on him whenever there was anything wrong with the building. It was very transactional - a favor for a favor.
That was how much Donald Trump loved our country.
The list of examples showing Donald Trump doesn’t care about anyone but himself continues with his callous disregard for how the coronavirus is killing people. The number of people dead (never mind those who survived but may have lingering medical problems) from the virus is now more than 185,000. Even worse, there are estimates that by December we could see the body count to rise to almost 300,000.
And now the FDA is willing to bypass the full federal approval process to speed up make the Covid-19 vaccine available as soon as possible. And an announcement that the vaccine would be sped to the market came only about a week after somebody complained that the FDA was moving slowly on the authorization to hurt him politically! Guess who that was? Yeah, Donald Trump (Poor Donald, everybody is trying to hurt him: the Democrats, the mainstream media, the Chinese, the Never Trumpers, the Deep State. And now, the cruelest foe of all - the FDA!)
Trump has never been interested in coming to grips with the reality of the coronavirus or the death and suffering it has brought. Instead, he has placed his and our hope in one after another fantasy cure: the virus would simply disappear by itself, that sunlight would destroy it, that hydroxychloroquine would kill it, that you could use Convalescent Plasma to treat it. And now, with his usual disregard for other people’s health and safety, that a new vaccine can be rushed to the market (without phase three testing that would actually prove it works) in time for his reelection.
Sound cruel? Well, as Donald says, “That’s just how it is.”