Day 1,319: Trump tweets and plays golf —for the 12th week in a row — as the republic burns
As the expression goes, “Nero fiddled while Rome burned.” The ineffectual leader did nothing as two-thirds of the city was destroyed.
In modern times, Donald Trump has decided he will use a 7-iron and the Twitter app while the republic is aflame.
Ignoring the many, many issues in the country — including a pandemic claiming over 1,000 American lives per day, a national reckoning related to police brutality, and the fallout from a catastrophic hurricane — Trump visited his Virginia golf club.
Done trying to even pretend that he is working on a COVID-19 response, Trump has visited one of his properties on nearly 30% of his days in office. Sunday’s visit marked the 12th straight week that Trump has visited one of his golf clubs.
On the Twitter front, Trump tweeted and retweeted over 100 times on Sunday. Many of those tweets were aimed at trying to stoke additional animus and tension, and others were from far right-wing talking heads nakedly praising Trump.
When an unarmed Black man is shot in the back by a white police officer, Trump says nothing. When a Trump supporter and member of a self-described “militia” shoots three and kills two unarmed protesters, Trump is shamefully silent. When mobs of Trump supporters — with his open support — caravan into Portland, Oregon to stir up violent trouble, Trump blames the protesters.
The U.S. has a presidential election every four years so the nation can have a leader. Trump has proven for 3.5 years — including again Sunday — that he has no interest in doing that job. He is entirely focused on the sliver of the public that voted for him in 2016 or may vote for him in 2020.
What Trump really wants to do is receive favorable news coverage, play golf, rub elbows with people who have paid for the right to get an omelet next to him at his golf clubs, and stir up unrest throughout the country on Twitter.
1,319 days in, 143 to go
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