Truth has consequences — and only the voters can save us now
“Truth or Consequences” was a popular quiz show that ran on radio and TV for 48 years. The reality show that President Trump is hosting daily from the White House — disguised as a press briefing — might well be called “Truth Has Consequences.”
Throughout his presidency, Trump has played fast and loose with the facts.
During his first three years in office, the Washington Post documented 16,241 “false or misleading claims,” and the pace of his perfidy continues to accelerate.
But many of his untruths have been relatively harmless: boastful bluster from a needy narcissist enhancing his ego.
Now, however, the president’s impulse to mislead and misinform the public could have a deadly impact.
The latest example: Trump’s relentless promotion of unproven antimalarial drugs like hydroxychloroquine as a miracle cure for the COVID-19 virus.
In a typical tweet last month, he announced the drugs have “a real chance to be one of the biggest game-changers in the history of medicine.”
Trump’s own medical experts have said his optimism is unjustified, and contradicts basic scientific principles. Dr. Anthony Fauci, the head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said on CBS, “In terms of science, I don’t think we can definitely say it works.” On Fox News, he warned the country to be “careful that we don’t make that majestic leap to assume that this is a knockout drug.”
During a White House briefing, a CNN reporter directly asked Fauci his opinion of the antimalarial medications boosted by Trump.
The president physically — and metaphorically — inserted himself between the reporter and the doctor. “You don’t have to answer,” the president insisted. And Fauci fell silent.
That episode epitomizes the president’s approach to the pandemic, and why it so profoundly dangerous. Yes, he’s occasionally listened to Fauci and other experts, especially when the rising death toll made it clear that the country could not follow the president’s delusional proposal to reopen the economy by Easter.
But he thrashes and trashes his way through every day, eager to practice medicine without a license and contradict the scientists whose cautious counsel, he believes, will throttle the economic recovery and his own reelection chances.
Indeed, the president’s disdain for experts of any kind, especially those who try to hold him accountable for his actions, is a hallmark of his presidency.
Right in the middle of the pandemic, he found time to fire Michael Atkinson, the intelligence community’s inspector general who had forwarded the whistleblower’s complaint to Congress that led to Trump’s impeachment.
Trump accused Atkinson of doing a “terrible job” and promoting a “fake report,” when the exact opposite is true.
Atkinson did his job superbly well, transmitting to Congress a report that has been proven valid in virtually every detail.
As the Washington Post editorialized, Atkinson’s dismissal “was the most blatant and shameful act of retribution yet by a president who has sought to shut down all independent checks on his behavior.”
To prove the Post’s point, Trump then removed Glenn Fine, the inspector general assigned to oversee the $2 trillion pandemic rescue package.
The pattern is now clear. Trump will not listen to experts who contradict his prejudices or political self-interest. And he will get rid of anybody who provides a check on his behavior.
Only one force remains that can provide that check: the voters.