Never had there been more uncertainty, even from many of his supporters, about what will come from a presidency than what we have seen in the anticipation of the inauguration of Donald Trump. Fittingly, I think we have already learned some important things from this historic day.
Here, in no particular order, is my “Top Ten” list of those revelations:
“Lock her up!” was BS: Thinking people who are hip to Trump’s modus operandi already strongly suspected that when he said (at a presidential debate!) that he would put Hillary Clinton in prison for her alleged crimes, that he was acting. But after he went out of his way to praise/honor both her and her husband at the inaugural luncheon today, it is now crystal clear that, like much of what Trump promised during the campaign, he was simply manipulating angry and ignorant people (otherwise known as his base of most ardent supporters).
Hillary Clinton is even tougher than thought: Hillary has always been known, even by her critics, as one tough lady, but what she pulled off today was pretty extraordinary, even by the standards of the woman who was publicly humiliated by the Monica Lewinsky scandal. For her to not only attend the inauguration (while many Democrats did not), but also the luncheon, was a display of mental strength which reached a new level.
Barack Obama is classy: I have been impressed with how the now former president has handled the entire transition, especially considering the obvious personal rejection and outrage he must feel at the election of a man who lied about the legitimacy of his birth for several years and for whom he clearly lacks respect. Today, for him to shake his hand and tell Trump “good job,” after he gave a speech effectively bashing the hell out of his presidency, took more class than I ever would have figured Obama possessed when he took office eight years ago.
The TV networks can cut the Obama cord: The most startling media moment of the day may have happened when Obama was giving his remarks to supporters after the Inauguration. When every television network (at least as far as I could tell) almost immediately switched away from Obama speaking in order to show Trump signing some papers, it was clear that media landscape really had changed forever. For Obama, this must have been like being a member of an aging boyband which suddenly has all the teenage girls rushing away from them to see a new act. When Trump finds out about this it will probably be his proudest moment of the entire day.
Steve Bannon is in charge: It was so obvious that Trump’s senior advisor (and the former head of Breitbart.com) wrote the Inauguration speech that his name almost instantly began trending on Twitter while Trump was delivering it. The overtly “America First” populist theme (not to mention the apparent quoting of Batman Super-villain “Bane”) are straight out of Bannon’s philosophy. For Trump to so clearly trust Bannon with such an incredibly important speech indicates that there is little doubt who currently really wields the influence within the White House. This should scare people.
Trump is the leader of a third party: Many have already suspected this was the case, but now that Trump is actually president, his extremely populist speech removes any doubt that he philosophically is neither a Republican nor a Democrat (and has a philosophy which, being based on both giving power over to the “people” but having government take care of everything, is inherently contradictory/illogical). Effectively, he is the leader of a third party which currently has a rather loose alliance with the GOP. It is almost like he is a combination King/Prime Minister who is leading a coalition government, one where the alliances can/will easily shift depending on the direction of the political winds.
Trump doesn’t ALWAYS get the best crowds: It is ironic that Trump, whose campaign was marked by amazingly YUGE crowds, may have had one of the smallest in recent times for his inauguration and for the parade. Of course, given the expense of area hotel rooms and the demographics of Washington, D.C. (where Trump got less than 5% of the vote), this really shouldn’t be all that surprising.
Trump can perform the ceremonial role: One of my major concerns about the Trump presidency, at least one which hasn’t gotten a lot of press, is how he would do at the ceremonial role of being the chief executive of the country. His massive ego and undisciplined personality hardly lend themselves to being “presidential,” but, at least today, I didn’t see one major moment where Trump failed that test. Only at least four more years to go…
“Drain the swamp!” was BS: Much like “lock her up!”, this was always an obvious ploy for Trump to energize his populist base and not something that he was ever going to be serious about if he ever somehow actually became president. Anyone who watched the incredibly chummy atmosphere at the luncheon between the current “swamp keepers” and the guy who was supposedly going to drain it, knows that absolutely nothing is going to change in that realm. In fact, things may get even swampier.
America can fake anything, at least for a day: It was remarkable how much all of today’s events appeared to be a complete act, performed by nearly everyone involved. In short, it all seemed rather hypocritical to honor the election of a president who “keeps it real” by having virtually the entire media and political industrial complex pretend the whole time that what just happened isn’t completely insane.
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John Ziegler hosts a weekly podcast focusing on news media issues and is a documentary filmmaker. You can follow him on Twitter at @ZigManFreud or email him at johnz@mediaite.com
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This is an opinion piece. The views expressed in this article are those of just the author.
