Intro
The Merriam-Webster online dictionary defines the word "infamy" as follows:
- evil reputation brought about by something grossly criminal, shocking, or brutal
- a. an extreme and publicly known criminal or evil act
b. the state of being infamous
On December 8, 1941 Franklin D. Roosevelt, the 32nd president of the United States, in response to the previous day's Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor delivered a Day of Infamy speech to a joint session of Congress in which he said:
Yesterday, December 7, 1941 — a date which will live in infamy — the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan.
To be sure, that day (to which you can add the terrorists attacks of September 11, 2001) was one of America's darkest days.
On June 16, 2015 Donald Trump announced his run for the U.S. presidency.
As far as objective reality is concerned, that date will also go down in history as one of America's darkest days - a date that will also live in infamy.
Looking Back
The last time I posted an Op-Ed about Trump and objective reality was on March 17, 2019 in an article entitled "Op-Ed | President Donald Trump | the 'New Normal' Drug".
Prior to that, on February 28, 2017 I posted a related article entitled "Donald Trump | The Trump Administration | Facts and Lies | Fake News". In that article I went into excruciating detail debunking a large number of Trump's bogus and questionable claims.
A lot has happened since I posted those two articles. Trump lost the 2020 election to Joe Biden, which resulted in an election denial movement that still exists today, and Trump won re-election in 2024. And, unfortunately, the blurring and rejection of objective reality has not only persisted, but has become more extreme.
Trump has continued to make countless, additional bogus claims, which (if you've been paying attention) you are acutely aware of. Rather than spending time debunking these additional claims, in this post I want to focus on the broader scope of how this ongoing blurring and rejection of objective reality has been affecting and will continue to affect America.
But before I continue, ask yourself this question: Was it like this before Trump?
I think that any sane, reasonable, rational person would have to answer this question with a resounding "NO." To answer it otherwise would, in itself, be a rejection of objective reality.
The Trump Persona
An intellectually curious person might ask whether Trump's disconnect from objective reality is conscious, unconscious, or a combination of both. If it's conscious, then it's most likely part of his political messaging strategy. If it's unconscious, then it's most likely Trump speaking and behaving based on what he truly believes, unconcerned with the consequences of what he says and does.
With Trump, I think it's a combination of both. I think he knows full well how much he lies, but he does it on purpose to "muddy the water" and blur the distinction between fact, i.e. objective reality, and fiction. He knows that by doing this it will be harder for the average person to discern the truth and make them more open to his points of view. It's a form of manipulation and "gaslighting" which the Merriam-Webster online dictionary defines as follows:
- psychological manipulation of a person usually over an extended period of time that causes the victim to question the validity of their own thoughts, perception of reality, or memories and typically leads to confusion, loss of confidence and self-esteem, uncertainty of one's emotional or mental stability, and a dependency on the perpetrator
- the act or practice of grossly misleading someone especially for one's own advantage
Trump also understands that if he repeats a claim over and over again, eventually it will become reality to people who don't have the awareness and savvy to know that they are being manipulated.
What makes Trump's gaslighting particularly dangerous is that it almost always includes an element of fear. Fear is a sure-fire way to get someone's attention. It's also a sure-fire way to motivate them to take some sort of action (like voting for Trump). Trump employs the same Nazi Germany propaganda playbook used to help Adolph Hitler rise to power in the lead up to World War II.
According to an article on "The Holocaust Explained" website entitled "The Nazi rise to power" (bold added for emphasis):
The Nazis started advocating clear messages tailored to a broad range of people and their problems. The propaganda aimed to exploit people's fear of uncertainty and instability. These messages varied from ‘Bread and Work', aimed at the working class and the fear of unemployment, to a ‘Mother and Child' poster portraying the Nazi ideals regarding woman. Jews and Communists also featured heavily in the Nazi propaganda as enemies of the German people.
Joseph Goebbels was key to the Nazis use of propaganda to increase their appeal. Goebbels joined the Nazi Party in 1924 and became the Gauleiter for Berlin in 1926. Goebbels used a combination of modern media, such as films and radio, and traditional campaigning tools such as posters and newspapers to reach as many people as possible. It was through this technique that he began to build an image of Hitler as a strong, stable leader that Germany needed to become a great power again.
Obviously, Trump's "boogeyman" isn't the German people. Instead it's Democrats, liberals, and the mainstream media.
Trump's tagline "Make America Great Again" and his campaign mirrors the way Hitler was portrayed.
As he has from the outset, Trump continues to publicly make claims as if they were facts, when by objective reality they are just misguided beliefs or conspiracy theories. He then uses this "alternate reality" to justify his policies.
A glaring, in-your-face, recent example of this is his response to the recent helicopter/airplane crash in Washington, D.C.. About one week before the crash, Trump issued two executive orders eliminating DEI ("Ending Radical And Wasteful Government DEI Programs And Preferencing" and "Fact Sheet: President Donald J. Trump Protects Civil Rights and Merit-Based Opportunity by Ending Illegal DEI"). Then, on the day after the crash and before any investigation had been conducted to discover what actually happened, he placed the blame for the crash on Biden, Democrats, and DEI.
Another prime example of Trump making claims as if they were facts happened during the September 10, 2024 debate with Kamala Harris when he emphatically barked out a conspiracy theory that Haitian immigrants were eating pets of people who live in Springfield, Ohio. This conspiracy theory was based on a fourth-hand account social media post by a woman, who, within a day or two after posting, said she had no proof that pets were being eaten.
Several days after the debate, on CNN, when challenged about his pet-eating claim Trump said:
The evidence is the first-hand account of my constituents who are telling me this happened. If I have to create stories so that the American media actually pays attention to the suffering of the American people, then that's what I'm going to do.
Since Trump's "evidence" was based on a first-hand account of his constituents, and the original social media post was a fourth-hand account, that means Trump's claim was a fifth-hand account. Trump said he will "create stories" to make a point, but that's just more gaslighting. In reality what he did was lie and use fear to justify his extreme immigration policies.
As far as Trump's unconscious disconnect from objective reality is concerned, he puts that on full display when he goes off on one of his 3:00 a.m. social media rants, or when he's speaking at a campaign event. That is when he is most unfiltered and speaking with emotion. Sometimes his hatred, his rage, and his seemingly constant need for revenge and retribution is almost palpable.
Then, of course, there's Trump's overwhelming ego, which manifests in his need to always be right/correct, his insatiable need for attention, and his relentless vilification of anyone or anything that doesn't align with his belief system, all of which surely play a major role in his disconnect. How can Trump (or how could anyone) remain connected to objective reality with these psychological traits constantly interfering with the ability to see things clearly?
To be clear, although Trump has been the catalyst and he shoulders most of the blame for the blurring and rejection of objective reality, his sycophants and enablers, including every American citizen who voted for him, are also to blame.
The Trump/MAGA Effect
So, what effect has this had on America?
- The most egregious effect, in my opinion, is that after Trump's 2024 election victory, the unspoken message is that rejection of objective reality pays political dividends. The blurring and rejection of objective reality has now been fully "normalized" and sadly accepted as a way of life in American politics.
- With Trump's decisive 2024 presidential election victory (he even won the popular vote), now Trump, his incoming administration, and all of his loyal MAGA supporters, including the vast array of right-wing propaganda media outlets, militia groups, and all of the Trump-pardoned extremists who stormed and attacked the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021 feel even more emboldened by and justified in their misguided beliefs. To a great extent they also feel a certain righteousness and that Trump's 2024 election victory was ordained by God.
- Over the next four years we are going to witness the deconstruction of the U.S. federal government, based on what's outlined in Project 2025.
- The disdain, division, lack of respect, and utter hatred that exists between liberals and conservatives is palpable. It plays out day after day on all forms of media (television, social media, blogs, websites, podcasts, etc.). Like it or not, as Americans we live in an "US vs. THEM" political environment, and that's not going to change any time soon.
- A nearly complete loss of integrity by conservative members of the U.S. Congress and politicians in general. As Trumpism and the MAGA movement have grown, more and more conservative politicians have found themselves in the unenviable position of having to choose between common decency and what they know is for the greater good of who they represent, and falling in line with Trump, in order to avoid being politically persecuted (and often times politically destroyed) by the wrath of Trump.
- The mainstream media has been vilified and rejected by tens of millions of Americans, many of whom now get their news from very biased sources. This is only going to help sustain the political divide.
- Tens of millions of Americans still believe that the 2020 presidential election was "rigged" and "stolen."
- Tens of millions of Americans still believe that man-made climate change is a "hoax."
- It's extremely difficult, if not impossible to discuss politics with someone who does not share your political views.
- Relationships of all types have been strained and in many cases shattered.
I argue that ALL of these effects have been driven primarily by Trump's lies and his disconnect. To be sure his extreme policies have played a key role, but at the end of the day there is nothing more aggravating, infuriating, and divisive than seeing someone with so much power and influence make bogus claims over and over again for political gain. And, as I stated earlier, Trump uses his lies to justify his policies.
It wasn't like this before Trump.
Looking Ahead
As I write it's only Trump's second week into his second term, and already he is wreaking havoc. Just today, Trump followed through on his promise to impose import tariffs on Mexico, Canada, and China. Imagine how much more damage will be done over the next four years, and possibly longer (there are rumblings about attempts by conservatives to allow a president to stay in office for more than two terms).
I'm concerned that Trump and his extreme administration will disseminate vast amounts of disinformation to the public about the economy, energy production, health insurance, and a long list of other topics. Trump's ego and his promises to the American people are on the line, and he will stop at nothing to preserve his image as a strong and competent leader. If his policies don't produce the desired result, he'll just have his sycophants "fudge" the numbers to make him appear successful.
It wasn't that long ago when the U.S Supreme Court ruled that a sitting president has some degree of immunity from prosecution. With that ruling in place, Trump has even fewer guardrails, and because of his nature he will push his presidential powers even further than during his first term, doing things that will surely end up being adjudicated by the U.S. Supreme Court, which is highly skewed in his favor.
It wasn't that long ago when the U.S Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.
Together, these are a harbinger of what's yet to come.
I have real concerns about how the recent AI (artificial intelligence) "boom" will play out politically. Imagine someone like Trump and/or or Elon Musk mandating the development of some official, U.S. government AI which becomes the de facto, required AI to be used by all Americans. Imagine how much political bias might be be engineered into that, and how that might help shape the minds of so many people.
We're already at the point where someone with easily obtainable knowledge can create a realistic video of anyone saying anything. Legislation is currently "in the works" in the U.S. Congress to establish legal safeguards, but what's to say these will come to fruition and remain in place in a form that's politically unbiased?
Something has gone terribly wrong with America.
That something is MAGA and Trump!
Jonathan Zimmerman Op-Ed
On February 18, 2025 Jonathan Zimmerman, an American historian of education who is a professor of history of education at the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education, posted an Op-Ed on The Hill entitled "Trump wants you to believe nothing is true. Don't believe him.". In his piece Zimmerman reiterates precisely what I've been saying about Trump since day one. Here's some of what Zimmerman said (bold added for emphasis):
My students are more reluctant than ever to make strong assertions about reality. Some students have even told me that they doubt such a thing exists. There's no singular reality — there's just "your reality," and "my reality," and everybody else's.
For years, I have warned them that one cannot have a democracy on that premise. If there is no fixed truth, the people with the most power will define it for us, and we will have no solid ground for contesting them. Welcome to the United States under President Trump.
The problem is not just that Trump lies. It is that he has eroded the very idea of truth. It doesn't matter whether something is real or not — all that counts is whether it serves him.
A much bigger lie, of course, is that Trump won the 2020 election. You would think that would matter less, given that he won in 2024. But you would be wrong. If your only goal is power, you have to stamp out any fact that weakens you.
That's why one of Trump's first acts, upon regaining the presidency, was to pardon the rioters who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 to prevent his opponent's victory from being certified. Their convictions represented a standing assertion of a reality that lives outside of Trump. He cannot countenance that.
And once he has discarded actual reality, he can say — and do — anything. He can fire federal workers and slash agencies because they are "woke," whatever that means. He can blame an aircraft disaster upon diversity, equity and inclusion or DEI practices without citing a single piece of evidence.
How many people actually believe what Trump says? That's the wrong question. He's not trying to persuade us with facts; he's trying to make us ignore facts. And once that happens, our democracy will end.
But evidence always matters, no matter what Trump's example tells us. When we ignore it, for any reason, we concede the game to him. There is a reality out there, existing independently of what each of us believes. As soon as we stop believing in it, it's game over for democracy.