Day 629: There’s no way in hell Trump wrote that USA Today op-ed

USA Today ran a truly heinous op-ed allegedly authored by Donald Trump in Wednesday’s paper. (We’re purposely omitting linking to it because it is riddled with self-fulfilling aggrandizement, false attacks and outright lies. To help disseminate such obvious disinformation would only give more attention to something meant only to get eyeballs and clicks at any cost.)

Our bone to pick is far more simple: there’s no way Trump wrote it.

Why?

1. The piece has various facts and figures, numbers and statistics. Trump doesn’t have the slightest idea on how to do the type of research necessary for a piece like this. (Okay, let’s concede that Trump had a team of researchers help him with that aspect.)
2. The piece is full of complete sentences and has no spelling or grammatical errors. He clearly struggles with basic rules of English, as can be seen in virtually every tweet he taps out. The piece flows through arguments. Trump famously has trouble staying on track for anything, whether he’s speaking or tweeting. (Okay, let’s concede that Trump had a team of editors help with with those aspects.)
3. The piece was written at all (Part I). Trump famously has no idea how to use a computer, so the idea of a word processor is completely foreign to him. For instance, he once staged a photograph of him “writing” a State of the Union using a pen and paper, despite the fact that he was on the front of the notebook and hadn’t written a word. (Okay, let’s concede that Trump wrote it by hand and had someone help him with the typing aspect.)
4. The piece was written at all (Part II). Trump can’t stand long documents, papers or significant notes. He’s apt to use note cards and in many cases does not write anything down at all. (Okay, let’s concede that Trump dictated the piece and had someone help with transcribing it.)
5. The piece is lengthy and clearly took time to craft and revise. (Okay, let’s concede that Trump transcribed it to someone, had it edited, had it reviewed by a team of advisers, instructed changes, reviewed those changes and signed off on it.)

That’s an awful lot of concessions to even assume Trump had an iota to do with any part of the piece. Of course presidents get help when crafting op-eds or speeches. But it’s also important that they give input.

Trump didn’t do the background. He didn’t do the writing. He didn’t do the editing. He didn’t do the revising. Perhaps the most telling clue that Trump didn’t write the op-ed is that it took actual work, something Trump eschews doing at all costs.

In classic Trump fashion, all he appears to have done was slap his name on someone else’s work.

629 days in, 833 to go

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