By Philip Yeung
Trump, the world's undisputed champion liar, plays the China card again
Early in Trump's first term, someone kept score of his lies. They broke the three thousand barrier. During the second term, nobody bothers anymore, because his fabricated falsehoods have spiraled like the US national debt. Numbers have no more meaning. His lies are newsworthy only if the target of his lies is newsworthy. By this yardstick, China should feel flattered, because it matters.
Remember Italy's female prime minister? She was deeply offended by Trump's bare-faced lie that she had begged him for a photo opp. She went public to puncture the falsehood. She should just enjoy the avalanche of attention and shrug it off with a sarcastic thank-you.
Lies define the Trump presidency. If I were China's spokesman, instead of dignifying the lie with a denial, I might just acknowledge, tongue-in-cheek, China's role as his preferred lifesaver.
This counterintuitive move will wrong-foot the lying leader and the cast of US politicians, who are hopelessly hooked on using China as their Houdini act. They will shrivel like a punctured balloon. This may inoculate them against future China-bashing. It takes reverse thinking to live with lies in Trump's age of shameless disinformation.
In these crazy times, lying is the new normal. Any day that passes without lies escaping Trump's lips, is an abnormal day. Trump is allergic to the truth and lying is his second nature. That makes this president the pathological liar of the century, indeed of the galaxy.
To Trump, lying is just a normal biological function like peeing. I bet my fortune cookie that he can't pee if he doesn't lie. Trump doesn't just lie through his teeth, but also through his manhood. Harvard Ph.D. candidates should dig deep into Trump's lying—and study its statistics, pathology and strategy. They would quickly piggyback on Trump's notoriety to the pinnacle of academic success.
Trump has an eye on history. But his place is safe. For he is the only pathological liar who was twice elected president. Were there a Nobel Prize for lying, Trump would be the only winner, for he is the biggest, baddest, liar in history, the undisputed champion in lying on the world's biggest stage. No other president, past or future, can lie so creatively and galactically.
He lies without shame, without guilt, without hesitation, and apparently, without consequence, for we have all become shock-proof, lie-proof, truth-proof, Trump-proof. His lies would have drowned any other politician. But Trump is still there swimmingly.
To be honest, on first hearing of Trump accusing China of meddling in the 2020 election, I reacted with anger. But my cooler self tells me that a transparent lie will soon die by itself.
The truth is, China was indifferent to the 2020 election because neither Trump nor Biden is a China-friendly candidate. Unlike Russia which preferred a Trump candidacy, the Chinese saw no difference over who won. Why waste money trying to influence a Hobson's choice?
In case you don't know, the voter data is publicly obtainable, if you pay a fee. The Trump lie invalidates itself.
Trump knows what's waiting for him in November—a voter revolt that will cost him control of Congress. A third impeachment beckons, plus a barrage of other legal headaches, civil and criminal. That's why he goes to Congress to push for the Save America Act---in effect, the Save Trump Skin Act, a piece of voter suppression legislation. When it looks doomed, he gravitates to China, as his dependable lifesaver to keep him afloat.
As another precaution, Trump has fired federal election officials, to rig the election outcome, leaving the vote-counting process open to manipulation.
Error-prone Trump needs distractions from his mess in the Iran war and the Epstein scandal. He knows that nothing casts a bigger shadow than China and that when it comes to China-bashing no smoking gun evidence is called for. He just needs eyeballs away from his plunging poll numbers. The accusation is so outrageous that even the FBI, DOP, DHS, CIA have all dismissed it in clearing China.
This time, even conventional media habitually gung-ho as China critics, refuse to bite. NBC, ABC and CNN have all declined to air Trump's official speech where he spouted his baseless accusation. The China smokescreen doesn't work this time. This time, when Trump tells them that he's got a bridge in Brooklyn to sell, they don't buy or bite.
Trump needs conspiracy theories to survive as long as he stays in the White House. We are on his roller-coaster. This is not even halfway through his second term, but already this presidency makes you dizzy and feel like an eternity.
The views do not necessarily reflect those of DotDotNews.
Read more articles by Philip Yeung:
Opinion | Out of the blue, China sends a jaw-dropping signal
Opinion | No need for saber-rattling over the South China Sea, Peace can be reeled in like a fish
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