The Oval Office is the seat of American power. The place where decisions are made that have historic and world altering consequences. A place so hallowed in American history that president’s have used it as a backdrop for delivering only the most consequential messages to the American people.
Last night President Trump used the Oval Office as a backdrop to lie to the American people.
Rather than delivering a message of national importance, Trump trotted out the same tired campaign rhetoric that he has delivered on the stump a thousand times before. Paraphrasing…hoards of illegal immigrants and terrorists are pouring across our southern border. They are bringing drugs and disease and crime. The only thing that can stop them is a wall.
It was an oft repeated message that has been debunked as false by the very people within Trump’s administration responsible for protecting our borders. A lie. A lie delivered from the most iconic venue in our republic.
This is not the first time that the president has used the power of his office to perpetrate a lie upon the American people.
You may recall that in the days immediately before the mid-terms, the president ordered 5000 active military troops to the southern border to protect the country from a caravan of 4000 supposed terrorists, criminals and MS-13 gang members. Fearmongering at its best.
The networks sent hordes of reporters to the border to deliver breathless accounts of the impending crisis. The hysteria was palpable. The administration was pleased.
As it turns out the whole thing was a ruse. A political stunt orchestrated by the administration to drum up support for pro-Trump/anti-immigration candidates in the crucial mid-term elections. Political brinksmanship made evident by the fact that the fearmongering reports of the caravan came to an abrupt halt once the mid-terms were over.
Last night’s Oval Office charade and the ordering of troops to our border under false pretense should give us pause.
The question must be asked…to what extent is this president willing to use the powers of his office to perpetrate his lies?
At some point in time a real crisis may occur where this president truly needs the country to believe the message he is delivering.
What then?
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