Too soon to push 2nd term for Trump

“America has rarely seen such success.” That’s the claim in a new TV ad for President Trump. The message advocates Trump’s re-election — after barely 100 days in office.

The president dismisses attempts to assess his track record at this juncture as “ridiculous.” So, what do backers of the $1.5 million ad — Donald J. Trump for President Inc. — believe?

“America is winning!” declares the voiceover, as the screen displays images of Justice Neil Gorsuch, workers at a truck-assembly plant and a pipeline going into the ground. “You’d never know it from watching the news.”

And that’s the point: The ad is a puff piece, giving the middle finger to the media. It’s propaganda at its finest. Using misleading information to advance a political agenda is nothing new. Like Trump, the ad makes its case with superlatives: the biggest; the best; the hugest.

How is this any different from the cult of personality cultivated by totalitarian regimes?

As evidence of “success,” the ad quotes news media, including The New York Times and other sources Trump derides as “fake.” Adding to the irony, most “successes” in the ad are not accomplished facts but proposals, such as “biggest tax cut in history.”

There is no question that Trump is good at campaigning. But achieving success as president is a different job, requiring different skills. Trump’s supporters may want to wait for him to attain more real successes running the country before running a way-too-early advertising campaign. Susan Omoto Maitland, Orlando Sentinel Editorial Advisory Board