This President Has Forfeited The Benefit of the Doubt. His Word Is Worthless.
At this point in the American history of the last ten years, it is wrong to give President Trump, anyone in his administration, or any political professional who works on his behalf, the benefit of the doubt.
In the first month, the new administration has moved beyond casual lying. They have adopted a movement-wide communications strategy of double-speak. They have managed to resurrect the term “gaslighting” from the 1940s and make it a necessary part of our everyday vocabulary. They are unserious in every way. To argue with Trump, or anyone in his orbit, is to argue with someone with no regard for the truth, no understanding of history, no respect for the norms of decent behavior, no sense of ethics, and no hesitation to break every rule on behalf of a president who believes he is above the law and who may be willing to pardon anyone who breaks the law for him.
With that as background I would like to suggest that it is time to end the polite practice of beginning every argument against Trump’s policies with the phrase; “The president may have a point, but….” This momentary acknowledgement gives Trump and his team the inch they need to take a mile. To Trump, such a nicety is a sign of weakness to be exploited, and that’s what he will do. He thrives on, plans on, others following the rules. He is most effective when others adhere to long established norms, because that allows him the room he needs to steal whatever it is he wants and take the chance the law will never catch up with him. So far this strategy has worked for him.
There is a tiny bit of evidence emerging, as month two begins, that the American people are catching on. New polling shows Trump’s approval rating dropping. Opposition voices have emerged at a few town hall meetings in Republican congressional districts around the country. A few Republican members in the Senate — so far too few — have made public comments that suggest the president has gone too far even for them. But it is not enough.
Trump and the most immediate members of his team have a few standard plays they run to avoid the truth and twist the truth for the rest of us:
- Change the subject. When confronted with a fair question they toss out an irrelevant comparison to something that happened during the Biden administration or in the earlier history of the country.
- Change the question. Vice President Vance is especially good at this technique. “I am not worried about the threat to Europe from Russia or China, I am worried about the threat from within.”
- Indignation. How dare you question President Trump because he is a great man.
- Claim a mandate. The American people elected Donald Trump and he is therefore doing the work he was elected to do in the way he was elected to do it. This is not true. He was entrusted to manage the government based on the rules.
With this small set of tools, anyone who speaks for the administration, including the president, manages to befuddle nearly any one who challenges them by confusing the issue. They lie. They obfuscate. They change the subject. They deny reality. They use these tactics so often that they no longer deserve the benefit of the doubt in any conversation.
There is no reason for the news media to cover the daily briefings at the White House, listen for serious comment from President Trump, or anyone who works for him, because like the old joke about lawyers, you can tell they are lying if their lips are moving. The only thing worth covering or paying attention to is the actions the administration actually succeeds in putting in place.
The administration’s strategic reliance on lying is doing great damage to the country here at home and around the world. The untruth of it all is poisoning the minds of many American citizens who don’t have time to figure out what the truth is; and around the world people of other nations and their leaders have concluded they can no longer trust America. Who can blame them. The only prudent thing to do when faced with a habitual liar is to listen, ignore, and plan to move forward alone.
The benefit of the doubt is a precious commodity that should only be offered to those who have made mistakes, but otherwise have lived by the rules. Granting the benefit of the doubt is a second chance, it is not a third, fourth or fifth chance. It is not a gift offered to someone who doesn’t appreciate the gift. The president and his administration are no longer deserving. None of the points they have to make are worth considering, because they are all wrapped in lies.
