“I couldn’t have raped her. She’s not my type.”
That quote is actually a slight paraphrase of what ex-President Scumbag, er, Trump said about why he is innocent of raping writer writer E. Jean Carroll in 1996 in a Bergdorf Goodman dressing room.
Trump gave several other reasons, including that it was a crowded department store and Carroll was too old.
Whatever the result of the trial going on in New York, Trump won’t go to jail. It’s a civil case, not a criminal one. But if there is one thing that absolutely stuns me in all this, it’s that there are still people in this country who consider Trump a hero of the Christian Right.
They will always love him for the Supreme Court seats he stole for them, enabling a far-right Court to overturn Roe v Wade and the reddest states to all but outlaw legal abortions. Aside from that, though, there is absolutely no reason for anyone to think Trump is anything good.
But these people, even the ones who don’t particularly admire Trump, don’t think of his as particularly bad. I’ve written before about my friend who said Trump was just an average politician but Hillary Clinton was the epitome of evil.
The question isn’t whether Trump is a good man or a bad man, whether he is moral or immoral. In Donald Trump’s world, morality (or immorality for that matter) doesn’t even exist. In Trump’s world, only the strong survive. People do what they want, take what they want and only people who are tougher and stronger can stop them.
It’s fascinating that when Trump was asked what Bible verse speaks to him most, he chose one from the Old Testament — and then misinterpreted it. His choice of giving an eye for an eye, etc., was followed by him saying if anyone comes after him, he will go back at them 10 times worse.
Of course, the verse from Leviticus 24:20 speaks of proportional response, not of overkill.
Then there’s this quote from the other half of the Bible.
“You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.”
That was Matthew 5:38-39, and it was quoting a man named Jesus.
Jesus understood that taking an eye for an eye leaves the world blind.
As for Trump, saying there were good things he accomplished is a lot like saying that Adolf Hitler built the autobahns. Trump never did one unselfish thing. Any benefit anyone else got from any action he took was sort of a metaphorical opposite of collateral damage.
It’s easy to see why he likes Kim Jong Un and Vladimir Putin so much. They’ve essentially birds from the same nest.
When I was looking for cartoons to illustrate this piece, I was struck by the fact that the only excuse some conservatives used to defend Trump was by sating hey, remember Bill Clinton.
And while it may be true that Clinton too is a product of a trailer park morality, that doesn’t justify Trump in any way.
I have a feeling the only way we can answer Trump in 2024 is this:
“We can’t elect you. You’re not our type.”