‘Everyone Knows It’s True’

David Frum, writing for The Atlantic:

One of the most striking things about Trump is how seldom, if ever, anybody tells a story of kindness and compassion about him. Not even his own children have much to say. […] Few former employees of the Trump administration praise him as a boss. Few business partners speak of his honesty. Few tenants of Trump buildings have anything good to say about the homes he supposedly built. Few officials of any city have been willing to celebrate any contribution to urban life. Few beneficiaries of any Trump philanthropy.

Imagine a man who has lived in the public eye for half a century, supposedly one of the country’s leading business figures, and when in trouble he struggles to summon credible or trustworthy witnesses from outside the Fox Cinematic Universe. There’s just a gaping zero where goodness should be.

One of the bottom lines about Trump is that he’s not a good person. He’s not trustworthy, he’s not honest, he’s not compassionate. 40 percent of the electorate still look at him and say “He’s my guy”, but to do so, they have to grapple with the fact that he’s a turd of a human being.

★ Tuesday, 8 September 2020