Listening to Trump proclaim vast knowledge about topics that he knows little or nothing about is concerning. A president is supposed to study the topics he discusses and be able to state facts, not imaginary information to support his political agenda. Trump has been exaggerating his knowledge since running for office. In an article published in Axios on January 5, 2019, examples of these false, inaccurate self-proclamations are
:ISIS: “I know more about ISIS than the generals do.”(October 2015).Courts:
” I know more about the courts than any human being on Earth.” (November 2015.)Trade: “Nobody knows more about trade than me.” (March 2016)
The U.S. government system: “Nobody knows the system better than I do.” (April 2016).
Taxes: “I think nobody knows more about taxes than I do, maybe in the history of the world.” (May 2016)Debt: ” I am the king of debt. I’m great with debt. Nobody knows debt better than me.” (June 2016).
Sen. Cory Booker: ” I know more about Cory than he knows about himself.” (July 2016)
The economy: ” I think I know about it better than the Federal Reserve.” (October 2018).
Technology: “Nobody knows more about technology than me”. (December 2018)
Drones technology: “Having a drone fly overhead- and I think nobody knows much more about technology, this type of technology certainly than I do.” (January 2019).
This week Trump declared he is a world-renowned expert in windmill technology. He then proceeded to make statements about windmills that are false. He claimed wind turbines cause a large carbon footprint. A study by the Department of Energy in 2014 reported that wind turbines produce energy with virtually no emissions. The Department further reported that “coal-powered electricity releases about 20 times more greenhouse gas per kilowatt-hour than wind.” He also falsely claimed that a windmills life span is 10 years, but they actually last 20-25 years. He also claimed, “they need a massive subsidy from the government in order to make it.” In truth, the government does not provide subsidies to replace or repair windmills.The president lies all of the time. He has told more than 13,000 lies on social media, television and at his rallies. He lies to manipulate people to trust and look up to him. Republicans cover for his grandiose, pathological lying by claiming he does not literally mean what he says. However, he never takes back these claims of expertise and repeats them over and over again.
A president who lies about being an expert on everything cannot be trusted to tell the truth about anything. What if he is lying about his taxes, his financial ties to Putin, and the quid pro quo with the Ukraine President? The strong economy (which Trump mistakenly takes all the credit for) is not enough to justify keeping a dishonest, immoral man in office.
#Make America Proud Again.
Tough words to digest for a very disturbing turn of events. Ms. Sperber is a dedicated, thoughtful journalist. She is not afraid to speak about the news of the day.