The subhead gets at the essence of the matter.
President Trump at moments of national tragedy has always been more comfortable finding fault than providing comfort or expressing empathy.
In fact you can omit the “at moments of national tragedy” part. Trump just in general has always loved to attack and sneer and jeer rather than doing the other thing. He’s the guy who jeered at the very idea that he would take his own kids to the park.
In the wake of this week’s midair collision near Washington, Mr. Trump was more than happy to jump to conclusions and pull the country apart rather than together. After declaring it to be an “hour of anguish for our nation,” Mr. Trump just five minutes later let anguish give way to aggression as he blamed diversity policies promoted by Mr. Obama and former President Joseph R. Biden Jr. for the crash, which killed 67 people.
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His decision to use the bully pulpit of the White House on Thursday to assign responsibility for the crash to his political rivals by name without offering a shred of evidence was, even for Mr. Trump, a striking performance. And it was no off-the-cuff comment. He followed up by signing an order directing a review of “problematic and likely illegal decisions” by Mr. Obama and Mr. Biden.
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It was not the first time Mr. Trump has exhibited what even his own former aides have called an “empathy gap.” Throughout the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, with thousands of Americans dying every day at its peak, Mr. Trump rarely paused long enough to dwell on the human toll and never sponsored any memorial to the fallen. Instead, he focused his public messages on finding others to fault, whether it be China, Mr. Obama, Democratic governors, the World Health Organization, federal regulators or his own scientific advisers.
He has responded similarly to natural disasters by going on the attack. Just this month, Mr. Trump reacted to the devastating wildfires in greater Los Angeles by blasting Gov. Gavin Newsom of California, calling him “Newscum.”
After Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico in 2017, he engaged in a war of words with San Juan’s mayor and, when he finally visited the island, memorably tossed paper towels to people who had been left without food, water or power. Angry at criticism of his handling of the calamity, he later suggested to aides that the United States sell or trade away Puerto Rico.
In short he’s a bad mean hostile person, who provides a horrible role model for his many deluded fans. It’s depressing living in his world.
Comments
2 responses to “More comfortable”
Maybe he should try to trade Puerto Rico for Greenland (I don’t imagine that happening, though possibly Denmark would be willing to take Puerto Rico). I guess it’s fruitless to suggest during his administration that Puerto Rico should be made a state…not that it’s done any good with any other administration. And they may not want to be a state, though I imagine they’d like to have representation in Congress.
When it suits him to do so, Trump satisfies his loyal and adoring followers by behaving like the prophet they seek to adore. But to me, he is more like the Antichrist as foretold by the prophet .(Daniel 7:24–26, KJV)
That baseball cap fits him well enough.