Of all the lies Donald Trump has told – obvious, blatant, ridiculous lies – his Thursday morning tweet is possibly the most laughable of them all. Or it would be laughable if it weren’t for the fact that he’s posting these lies publicly to demean a free press currently under attack by a domestic terrorist.
The same president who spends his days on Twitter insists that he “rarely” uses a cellphone. That is more demonstrably false than some of his most famous lies, like the one about him being a “stable genius” or “the most honest president in history.”
The lie is funny, except this is no time to laugh.
Even though a terrorist (no matter who is sending the bombs or whether or not any have gone off, this is terrorism) is targeting news organizations that Trump has called “fake news,” the president has forgotten his less than 24-hours old speech calling for unity. Instead of supporting the press even when they report news about him that he doesn’t like in the face of these attacks, Trump is doubling down with more “fake news” claims.
Yes, the lie is funny, especially considering the thousands of photos of Trump using his cell phone to tweet his rabid fanbase. After all, a “hard line” telephone doesn’t connect to Twitter.
The lie is also incredibly frightening. This is the president, the person who is supposed to be a calm voice of reason comforting Americans who are frightened by the intimidation these pipe bombs represent. Instead of doing his job, he’s just doubling down and making the issue even worse. This is a presidency that cannot end soon enough.
Twitter was amused by the lie, anyway. Read some of their comments below:
Featured image via Flickr by Gage Skidmore under a Creative Commons license
