It doesn’t matter what the message is unless it’s told by a credible source. The first candidate training session I went to when I ran for Minnesota State House Rep. in 2011 pointed this out. We as candidates needed to establish our credibility before we delivered our message. Otherwise the message could be easily dismissed. If you tell me your beloved dog just died and you’re really sad, and I say, “I know how you feel” but I’d never owned a dog, you’re not going to appreciate my message very much. I’m not a credible messenger when it comes to losing a beloved dog.
When Donald Trump delivered his first speech to a joint session of congress last night, he began by talking about civil rights and hate crimes. He said, “Recent threats targeting Jewish community centers and vandalism of Jewish cemeteries, as well as last week’s shooting in Kansas City, remind us that while we may be a nation divided on policies, we are a country that stands united in condemning hate and evil in all of its very ugly forms.”
He was referring to the more than 100 bomb threats in the last 7 weeks to Jewish Community Centers which often include preschools. But although he had prime opportunities to condemn these along with the vandalism being done to many Jewish cemeteries before this speech, he refused to do so. Most presidents would have done so immediately without being asked. On one occasion when Trump was asked for a statement on this matter, he completely dodged the question and bragged about his electoral college victory which he claimed was the largest since Reagan, which is completely false.
As a matter of fact, much of what President Trump says is completely false. We don’t know if he’s lying, delusional, or just one of those people who blindly believe lies or “fake news”, which describes some of his most influential sources.
Not only does Trump put forth easily checked falsehoods, but he also seems to be the direct instigator of the divisiveness and hate he is attempting to make us believe he is condemning.
I’ve heard a lot of pundits claim that Trump was ‘presidential’ last night in his address. They’ve lowered the bar on what’s presidential, ignoring how uncomfortable it is to watch Trump demonstrate that he can barely read from a teleprompter. They seem to be judging Trump’s performance by the content of his speech, which included the exploitation of the widow of a Navy Seal who died in Trump’s first military operation which was by all accounts poorly and prematurely executed. It was an emotional moment and many pundits seemed to be swayed by it. But Trump has avoided taking any responsibility for the botched raid, and he lied about its success by saying it gained important intelligence.
So those who were impressed that Trump didn’t go off his pre-written script while he showed no sign of understanding it and in fact made claims that contradict it, are forgetting that Trump is not a credible messenger. He is in fact the direct cause of the hate crimes his speech condemned. The bomb threats only began after he became president. And Trump’s history has incidents of racism and hate toward those who disagree with him.
I’m not even attempting to get into Trump’s policy initiatives, which are based on fantasy and cannot be paid for. That’s a conversation for another day. I’m just pointing out that no matter the content of his speech, Trump is not a credible messenger and therefore his speech is not credible.
The message is only as good as the messenger.
