In an instance of tone-deafness jaw-dropping even by his own lofty standards, Donald Trump has essentially called most Americans fools.
As Americans - and others - kvetch about the rapidly rising prices of oil and gasoline (and therefore everything else) Trump dropped a Truth Social post: "Short term oil prices, which will drop rapidly when the destruction of the Iran nuclear threat is over, is a very small price to pay for U.S.A., and World, Safety and Peace. ONLY FOOLS WOULD THINK DIFFERENTLY." [His capitalization and punctuation]
Oh, OK. Daddy knows best, I suppose. Pardon me for thinking.
UPDATE
A couple of weeks later, Trump outdid himself, big time. Responding to the news that ex-FBI chief Robert Mueller has died, Trump posted publicly, for all the world to see: "Robert Mueller just died. Good, I'm glad he's dead. He can no longer hurt innocent people." (Just for clarity, the only "hurt" referenced here was Mueller's investigation into Trump's attempt to steal the 2016 election, and he was far from "innocent".)
Unbelievable. Possibly his all-time low. But all part of what you might call the "death of decency" in American politics.
Trump does or says something outrageous and beyond the pale almost daily. It's a big part of his attempt to prop up his sagging popularity. In his (showman's) view, it's what his supporters want and expect. And popularity is what keeps him going, it's the very air he breathes.
But outrage only works for so long. When it becomes normalized, it loses its effect. And I think that's what Trump is experiencing right now. God knows, it's taken long enough, but I think many of his supporters are starting to realize that maybe the emperor has no clothes on after all. You can only jump the shark so many times; eventually the shark will get you.
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