during the past several days donald trump has continued to claim that he was spied on by president obama during the last presidential campaign. the director of the fbi and other security officials past and present have denied this took place, and members of mr. trump's own party are convinced that this spying never happened. next mr. trump's press secretary repeated a report from fox news that the british government tapped mr. trump's phones at president obama's behest, an action vehemently denied by the british. when meeting with angela merkel, mr. trump said that one thing the two had in common was that their phones had been tapped by president obama, repeating his false claim.
these falsehoods are the latest in a long series of lies that mr. trump has repeatedly put forward. he claimed that president obama's presidency was illegitimate because the president was not "native born," and repeated this lie over and over. he claimed that he had not supported the invasion of iraq, even though he did so publicly and his taped words were played back ad nauseum. he repeatedly insisted that the crowd for his inauguration was the largest ever, though live coverage of the event proved otherwise. after claiming that the electoral system was rigged against him, donald trump was the winner of the election, only to claim that the reason he lost the popular vote was that millions of "illegals" voted for hilliary clinton, an unsubstantiated claim denied by members of his own party and for which he could offer no proof.
mr. trump has a skewed view of the world because of his reliance on news sources that are biased in the direction he favors and is ready to accept as fact any preposterous conspiracy theory these sources put forward. he relies on advisors who have been a part of the "alt right" rumor mill and has the former head of breitbart news installed in an influential position. his lies have damaged and continue to damage the credibility of the united states in the world, and his willingness to repeat absurd claims put forward by unreliable news media and propagandists makes the country an object of ridicule on the world stage. one wonders how long the congress can allow this state of affairs to continue. how can other governments trust what he says when lies fall so easily and readily from his tongue? His disingenuousness in making false statements and then saying that he's not claiming to believe them, but only quoting other sources, make him all the more culpable in perpetuating lies because it is the president of the united states who is bringing them to the attention of a wider audience.
he claimed to be on the side of working people in the united states, but the cabinet appointments he has made belie that claim. he promised a new health insurance law that would provide coverage for everyone, but he is promoting a plan that will actually decrease the number of people who have insurance. he has proposed a budget that will harm the most vulnerable segments of the population in order to increase spending on the military and security, taking food out of the mouths of the elderly to build instruments of war.
may we call donald trump what he is: a liar and a charlatan. may we have compassion for him, but may we oppose his policies in every lawful way we can. may we acknowledge that only someone with great suffering at the core of his being can be so insensitive and callous and wish that his suffering would be assuaged, while at the same time working to prevent his harmful policies from coming to fruition and to counter his lies with truth. shalom.
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