"I’m not looking for somebody who will whisper sweet nothings into my ear to feed the ravenous ego of my heart. But someone who can look me straight in the eye and say, I love you, whether you fail or fall, just as you are.” - Beau Taplin
The Republican Party’s infatuation-turned-interminable obsession with Donald Trump began with “conservatives” succumbing to his lies, much like a giggly schoolgirl falling for—and giving herself to—the ravenous high school jock who whispers sweet nothings into her ear. He strings her along as long as she gives him what he wants. She sees him flirting with other girls, but she’s so starry-eyed that she tells herself he’d never hurt her; he’ll always remain true to her.
It began with the announcement of his presidential bid.[1]
Sweet Nothing 1: “Baby, I’ll pave the way to a great relationship.” Trump promised to rebuild the nation’s infrastructure: “Rebuild the country’s infrastructure. Nobody can do that like me. Believe me. It will be done on time, on budget, way below cost, way below what anyone ever thought. Look at the roads being built all over the country, and I say I can build those things for one-third. What they do is unbelievable, how bad.”
o Reality check: A promise full of potholes, a long and winding road to nowhere.
§ “The Trump administration proved adept at demolition, scrapping environmental regulations, rolling back fuel efficiency standards, and withdrawing from the Paris climate agreement. But the construction project for which this presidency is most likely to be remembered is the U.S.-Mexico border wall. Most of the roughly 360 miles of barrier completed so far replaces existing fencing, and the work has cost U.S. taxpayers about five times more per mile than in previous administrations, according to ProPublica. It, too, falls short of Trump’s campaign promises, including the notion that Mexico would pay for it.”[2]
Sweet Nothing 2: “Baby, I’ll protect you from those nasty Mexican rapists.” Trump famously characterized Hispanics crossing the nation’s southern border as drug-dealing rapist criminals. Then he promised to build a wall to keep the nation safe from the invading hordes: “I would build a great wall, and nobody builds walls better than me, believe me, and I’ll build them very inexpensively, I will build a great, great wall on our southern border. And I will have Mexico pay for that wall. Mark my words.”
o Reality check: Walled off from reality. Loco mentiroso americano.
§ “According to a report by Customs and Border Protection on December 18, 2020, published by FactCheck.org, around 438 miles of the new primary and secondary wall had been constructed. However, around 365 miles of the new construction replaced older barriers. In locations where no barriers previously existed, only 73 miles of the primary and secondary wall had been completed.”[3]
§ That’s 73 of the 1,954 miles of southern border. That’s just .037 percent. (Not that any of it was ever needed, but it comforted the insecure schoolgirl.)
§ Mexico never paid one peso for the wall construction.[5]
Sweet Nothing 3: “Baby, I’ll still need you and feed you when you’re 64—and beyond.” Trump promised to save social programs targeted at the nation’s seniors: “Save Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security without cuts. Have to do it.”
o Reality check: While Trump’s proposed 2020 budget called for cuts to these social programs, that didn’t happen. So, he didn’t gut them, but he did nothing to preserve them long term.[6]
Sweet Nothing 4: “Baby, I’ll make sure our kids and grandkids will be well cared for.” Trump promised to eliminate the national debt in eight years.
o Reality check: Well, he didn’t have eight years, so who knows if he might have been able to carry through on that promise. But it would have been unlikely given that in four years he presided over a 40 percent increase in the national debt, from just under $20 trillion to $28 trillion.[7]
Those are but a few of the come-ons the faux jock whispered into the willingly puerile teenybopper’s ear. And despite his failure to follow through on any of them—or any of the myriad other promises he made—she continues to give herself unreservedly to him.
Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Fool me repeatedly, I become immune to truth.
[1] Time Magazine Staff, “Here's Donald Trump's Presidential Announcement Speech,” Time, June 16, 2015, https://time.com/3923128/donald-trump-announcement-speech/
[2] Laura Bliss, “How Trump's $1 Trillion Infrastructure Pledge Added Up,” Bloomberg City Lab, November 16, 2020, https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-11-16/what-did-all-those-infrastructure-weeks-add-up-to
[3] Dan Clarendon, “Biden Halts U.S.-Mexico Border Wall Construction, Trump Made Dismal Progress,” Market Realist, January 26, 2021, https://marketrealist.com/p/how-much-border-wall-is-built/
[4] By David K. Li, “Portions of California border wall wilt and fall into Mexico after high winds,” NBC News, June 30, 2020, https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/portions-california-border-wall-wilt-fall-mexico-after-high-winds-n1126911 “Trump to exit with key promise unfulfilled: 1,000-mile border wall unfinished and Mexico didn't pay
[5] Anna Giaritelli,” Washington Examiner, January 12, 2021, https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/trump-key-promise-unfulfilled-border-wall-unfinished-mexico
[6] Taylor Tepper, “President Trump Won’t Destroy Social Security—But He’s Not Going To Save It,” Forbes, September 24, 2020, https://www.forbes.com/sites/advisor/2020/09/24/president-trump-social-security/?sh=1a87180b6698
[7] KIMBERLY AMADEO, “President Trump's Impact on the National Debt,” The Balance, May 10, 2021, https://www.thebalance.com/trump-plans-to-reduce-national-debt-4114401