June 25, 2018: The President Likes Being a Dick

 

6/25/18: If there is one true thread that runs through the Trump presidency, it is the fact that the president is a giant dick. 

____________________ 

He was a dick because he likes being a dick.

____________________ 

 

Last week, Trump proved his dickishness again, this time during a meeting with GOP lawmakers on immigration. 

I don’t mean Trump was a dick because he wanted to lock up little children, although, of course, he was. In this setting he was a dick because he likes being a dick. And you can’t call this “Fake News.” 

I am quoting Fox News: 

President Trump’s meeting with House Republicans to discuss immigration legislation briefly went awry Tuesday after the president mocked Rep. Mark Sanford over a primary election loss.

 

Two sources in the meeting room told the Associated Press that Trump joked: “I want to congratulate Mark on a great race.”

 

A senior House Republican who is a Trump supporter told Fox News that the president’s comment was “unnecessary” and “poor form.” Another senior GOP lawmaker called it a “low blow.”

 

Another GOP member told Fox News the room got “pretty quiet” after the remark and some attendees booed in a low tone of voice.

 

Sanford had a scheduling issue and was unable to attend. His absence brought out Trump’s bullying instincts. Fox continued: 

Sanford, a former South Carolina governor and frequent Trump critic, was defeated by state Rep. Katie Arrington in the June 12 primary. Hours before the polls closed, Trump endorsed Arrington on Twitter and joked that Sanford was “better off in Argentina” – a reference to a sex scandal that overshadowed Sanford’s tenure as governor.

 

Let’s stop a moment and consider the hypocrisy of Trump commenting on any other man’s sex scandals. (Sanford once claimed he went missing as governor because he was hiking the Appalachian Trail. Actually, he had jetted off to Argentina to be with his mistress.) Trump’s hypocrisy is emblematic of his dickishness. 

Then Trump doubled down on being a dick and did what he does almost as well as being a dick. Several news outlets reported on the negative reaction of GOP lawmakers to his comments. CBS added this detail. After his petty joke fell flat the president continued down the same no-class path, adding, “What, nobody gets it?” Sanford, he continued, was a “nasty guy.” 

Confronted with evidence that he was indeed a giant dick, Trump took to Twitter to make himself sound good. “Had a great meeting with the House GOP last night at the Capitol,” he claimed. “They applauded and laughed loudly when I mentioned my experience with Mark Sanford. I have never been a fan of his!” 

Or: a fan of telling the truth. 

 

Blatant lying stirred several lawmakers. 

Such blatant lying stirred several lawmakers who witnessed Trump being Trump, a dick being a dick, to respond: 

Rep. Justin Amash, from Michigan, tweeted: “House Republicans had front row seats to @POTUS’s dazzling display of pettiness and insecurity [emphasis added, unless otherwise noted]. Nobody applauded or laughed. People were disgusted.” 

Ryan Costello, from Pennsylvania, was also seated in the meeting. He called Trump’s Twitter claim “categorically false.” 

Scott DesJarlais, a Tennessee Republican, offered similar assessment. After Trump’s cheap shots, he said, there were “crickets” in the meeting. 

In other words, three Republican members of Congress were on record, saying in so many words that: 

A)    Trump is a dick. 

B)     Trump enjoys being a dick. 

C)    Trump lies to cover up A and B.

 

Finally, Sanford responded: 

I would say the comment goes to the core of why I have at times agreed with policies of the administration but at the same time found the president’s personal style so caustic and counterproductive. The tragedy of the Trump presidency is that he thinks it’s about him. The president has taken those earnest beliefs by so many people across the country and has unfortunately fallen prey to thinking it’s about him.

 

Sanford was being polite.