Donald Trump may be the president today because of what he tried to do — and did do — to President Barack Obama in the past.
Trump spent years and good money engineering what is now known as the infamous and odious “birther movement,” in which he openly and relentlessly accused Obama of not being born in the United States (not to mention Trump questioned Obama’s religion, implying implicitly that Obama, who is an avowed Christian, was really a Muslim).
And Trump not only did it once, but twice. Trump questioned Obama’s birthplace during his first term and then, with even greater fervor and ferocity, during the 2012 elections whereTrump probably figured that he had done enough to help push Obama’s opponent, Mitt Romney, over the top and into the Oval Office.
Even though the campaign to “expose” Obama as a foreign-born citizen failed, it accomplished three main things: It exponentially raised Trump’s profile, much higher than it already was; two, it gave Trump a taste of the political life and gave him the intestinal fortitude to enter the realm full throttle, and; three, the birther movement showed him the widespread support, from racists and non-racists alike, he had engendered that would allow him to go after Obama and minorities.
Many people on social media point to “the birther movement” as Trump accuses the federal government, Democrats and the media of orchestrating the “greatest witch hunt” in American political history.
Trump unleashed another Twitter rant Thursday morning — despite his White House advisors reportedly preferring a more conciliatory tone — where he again claims to be the victim of something because the U.S. Department of Justice appointed a special counsel to investigate a possible collusion with Russian officials to rig the election and fatten Trump’s wallet.
As usual, Trump unearthed the names Obama and Hillary Clinton to drive home his point and claimed that they were never subjected to such scrutiny as he is now.
“With all of the illegal acts that took place in the Clinton campaign & Obama Administration, there was never a special councel appointed!” Trump wrote on Twitter, misspelling the word “counsel.”
Trump followed that up with another whiny tweet: “This is the single greatest witch hunt of a politician in American history!”
The White House also released a statement, which read: “As I have stated many times, a thorough investigation will confirm what we already know — there was no collusion between my campaign and any foreign entity. I look forward to this matter concluding quickly.”
During his commencement speech at the United States Coast Guard Academy on Wednesday, the president abruptly diverted from his uplifting theme to complain that “no politician in history” had been treated “more unfairly” than him.
“You will find that things are not always fair,” he told the graduates. “Look at the way I’ve been treated lately, especially by the media. No politician in history — and I say this with great surety — has been treated worse or more unfairly.”
Perhaps the age-old saying of “what goes around, comes around” is manifesting itself in Trump’s current political morass. It must be a tough situation for a man who is accustomed to doing things to others that he never tolerates being done to him.
