Trump’s falsehoods are eroding public
trust, at home and abroad.
If President Trump announces that North
Korea launched a missile that landed within
100 miles of Hawaii, would most
Americans believe him? Would the rest of the world? We’re not sure, which
speaks to the damage that Mr. Trump is doing to his Presidency with his
seemingly endless stream of exaggerations, evidence-free accusations,
implausible denials and other falsehoods.
The latest example is Mr.
Trump’s refusal to back off his Saturday morning tweet of three weeks ago that
he had “found out that [Barack] Obama had my ‘wires tapped’ in Trump
Tower just before the victory” on
Election Day. He has offered no evidence for his claim, and a parade of
intelligence officials, senior Republicans and Democrats have since said they
have seen no such evidence.
Yet the President clings
to his assertion like a drunk to an empty gin bottle, rolling out his press
spokesman to make more dubious claims. Sean
Spicer—who doesn’t deserve this treatment—was dispatched last week to repeat an
assertion by a Fox News commentator that perhaps the Obama Administration had
subcontracted the wiretap to British intelligence.
That bungle led to a
public denial from the British Government Communications Headquarters, and
British news reports said the U.S.
apologized. But then the White House claimed there was no apology. For the sake
of grasping for any evidence to back up his original tweet, and the sin of
pride in not admitting error, Mr. Trump had his spokesman repeat an unchecked
TV claim that insulted an ally.
The wiretap tweet is also
costing Mr. Trump politically as he hands his opponents a sword. Mr. Trump has
a legitimate question about why the U.S.
was listening to his former National Security AdviserMichael Flynn, and who leaked news of his meeting
with the Russian ambassador. But that question never gets a hearing because the
near-daily repudiation of his false tweet is a bigger media story.
FBI director James Comey also took revenge on Monday by joining
the queue of those saying the bureau has no evidence to back up the wiretap
tweet. Mr. Comey even took the unusual step of confirming that the FBI is
investigating ties between the Trump election campaign and Russia.
Mr. Comey said he could
make such a public admission only in “unusual circumstances,” but why now?
Could the wiretap tweet have made Mr. Comey angry because it implied the FBI
was involved in illegal surveillance? Mr. Trump blundered in keeping Mr. Comey
in the job after the election, but now the President can’t fire the man leading
an investigation into his campaign even if he wants to.
All of this continues the
pattern from the campaign that Mr. Trump is his own worst political enemy. He
survived his many false claims as a candidate because his core supporters
treated it as mere hyperbole and his opponent was untrustworthy Hillary Clinton. But now he’s President, and he needs
support beyond the Breitbart cheering section that will excuse anything. As he
is learning with the health-care bill, Mr. Trump needs partners in his own
party to pass his agenda. He also needs friends abroad who are willing to trust
him when he asks for support, not least in a crisis.
This week should be dominated by the smooth political sailing for Mr. Trump’s
Supreme Court nominee and the progress of health-care reform on Capitol Hill.
These are historic events, and success will show he can deliver on his
promises. But instead the week has been dominated by the news that he was repudiated
by his own FBI director.
Two months into his
Presidency, Gallup has Mr. Trump’s
approval rating at 39%. No doubt Mr. Trump considers that fake news, but if he
doesn’t show more respect for the truth most Americans may conclude he’s a fake
President.
Appeared in the Mar.
22, 2017,
print edition.
No comments:
Post a Comment