It sounds like Donald Trump might be a little tired of being president of the United States.
The current occupant of the White House went on Fox & Friends this morning sounding pretty worn out. That’s somewhat understandable since he’s been holding several rallies a day, including five yesterday. But along with that fatigue came some strange statements, even for him.
After whining for a bit about how “mean” people have been to him during his presidency when asked if he’s loved the job, Trump went into a bizarre explanation of how his own country is harder for him to deal with than three of the world’s most notorious dictatorships.
“You deal with people that are very deceptive. They’ll go, ‘Mr. President, tell me, who’s the country that’s most difficult to deal with. Is it Russia? Is it China? Is it North Korea, sir, is it North Korea?’ And I go ‘No, well, by far the most difficult country to deal with is the U.S. It’s not even close.’ And they all say ‘You’ve got to be kidding,’ and I say, ‘No, I’m actually probably not kidding.’ No, we have very, very deceptive people. We have people that, you know, I think they have…I think they’re sick in some ways, like an Adam Schiff. I think Adam Schiff is a sick person.”
Have a listen:
Hoo boy.
Let’s break this down a bit. The sitting president of the United States just denigrated his own country by placing it on a negative list below three known dictatorships. That alone is stunning. Or it would be, in any normal presidential timeline.
But he’s probably just kidding, right? It was a joke. Trump’s always joking around about things like his love for authoritarianism. Except that he clarifies that he isn’t kidding before saying “we”—the country he has been given the privilege of leading—”have very, very deceptive people.”
That’s got a bit of a Mexico-is-sending-criminals-and-rapists vibe, doesn’t it? Only he’s talking about his own citizenry here. Wow.
Naturally he pivoted to talking about Adam Schiff, because of course he did. But even if you agree with him that Schiff is sick or deceptive, to put three known dictators above a leader in your own government? Really? There are some lines you just don’t cross, no matter how much you don’t like someone. And when you’re president of the United States, saying you prefer to deal with nations run by despots that have actively tried to harm the United States over dealing with your own people—well, that’s clearly way past the line.
Please take a moment—seriously— to imagine what the reaction would have been if President Obama had said anything remotely like this during his presidency. See? Here’s definitive proof that he hates America! He prefers authoritarian dictatorships over his own people! He’s a traitor! Lock him up!
Speaking of President Obama, another segment on this morning’s Fox interview showed where Trump’s head is. The former president has been letting loose on Trump the past couple of weeks after spending four years staying away from politics and letting Trump have space to do the job, or try to, at least. When a Fox anchor asked Trump if he wanted to respond to Obama’s accusation that he’s been running around having these superspreader rallies because he cares more about his crowds than he does keeping people safe, Trump launched into chastising Fox News instead.
After saying that Obama isn’t getting many people to his speaking events—which are purposefully small and socially distanced because we’re in the middle of an uncontrolled pandemic—Trump launched into whining about how Fox News isn’t the same anymore because they air Obama and Biden’s speeches—like any media outlet that purports to be fair and balanced would.
“Actually, Fox puts him on more than anybody else, which is just sort of shocking to me, because Fox has changed a lot. And somebody said what’s the biggest difference between this and four years ago and I say, ‘Fox. It’s much different.’”
The Fox anchors tried to explain that they air those speeches because they’re trying to show both sides, “unlike the other networks.” Then they asked the President about Obama again, but he just kept going off about Fox’s coverage. “I’m not complaining, I’m just telling people…” he said.
Um, yeah. You are complaining, Mr. President. And it’s sad.
If it’s too hard to deal with your own country, there’s always the option of quitting. Or being voted out. Either way, you’ve got options.
