I was overcome by nausea when the news broke that Donald Trump had spent Easter writing 77 posts to his social media platform. Easter is supposed to be a time of reflection and happiness. It has a special meaning for Christians, but even non-believers celebrate the holiday. It marks the beginning of Spring, a time of year that offers hope and renewal. I planned to write about Easter in this week’s column but cannot ignore the melt-down of the presumptive Republican presidential nominee.
If you have not noticed, today’s Donald Trump is slowly melting, or, if you prefer, imploding. His speeches are progressively less coherent while at the same time more bellicose, angry, and paranoid. The failing United States, Trump believes, is out to get him. He is not being prosecuted for crimes; he is being persecuted by evil people. He is a victim, much like Jesus Christ.
When Trump compared his own prosecution to Christ’s crucifixion, I was shocked. If Trump’s sacrilege does not offend you, what does?
Does Trump believe that “evil” is behind his legal problems? Or is he just “playing to his base?” After reading several of Trump’s Easter rants, I concluded that it is the former. The ex-president has “lost it,” and his party is too far gone to recognize it.
A short book appropriate for the mental health section of a bookstore could be written on Trump’s 77 Easter social media posts. Was Trump going for a Guinness Book record? I quit reading them after the first dozen. They are repetitive and devoid of anything a future president should be contemplating on Easter.
One of the 77 posts seems to be getting more attention than others. This one, I am happy to report, does not include a self-comparison with Christ or plagiarism of any of Hitler’s speeches. Instead, Trump summarizes his defense in some of the legal actions against him. The post reads:
HAPPY EASTER TO ALL, INCLUDING CROOKED AND CORRUPT PROSECUTORS AND JUDGES THAT ARE DOING EVERYTHING POSSIBLE TO INTERFERE WITH THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION OF 2024, AND PUT ME IN PRISON, INCLUDING THOSE MANY PEOPLE THAT I COMPLETELY & TOTALLY DESPISE BECAUSE THEY WANT TO DESTROY AMERICA, A NOW FAILING NATION, LIKE “DERANGED” JACK SMITH, WHO IS EVIL AND “SICK,” MRS. FANI “FAUNI” WADE, WHO SAID SHE HARDLY KNEW THE “SPECIAL” PROSECUTOR, ONLY TO FIND THAT HE SPENT YEARS “LOVING” HER, LONG BEFORE THE GEORGIA PERSECUTION OF PRESIDENT TRUMP BEGAN (AND THEREBY MAKING THE CASE AGAINST ME NULL, VOID, AND ILLEGAL!), AND LAZY ON VIOLENT CRIME ALVIN BRAGG WHO, WITH CROOKED JOE’S DOJ THUGS, UNFAIRLY WORKING IN THE D.A.’s OFFICE, ILLEGALLY INDICTED ME ON A CASE HE NEVER WANTED TO BRING AND VIRTUALLY ALL LEGAL SCHOLARS SAY IS A CASE THAT SHOULD NOT BE BROUGHT, IS BREAKING THE LAW IN DOING SO (POMERANTZ!), WAS TURNED DOWN BY ALL OTHER LAW ENFORCEMENT AUTHORITIES, AND IS NOT A CRIME. HAPPY EASTER EVERYONE!
As they taught us in law school, Res Ipsa Loquitor–the thing speaks for itself. In writing this post, Trump shows himself for who he is.
For one thing, the post shows Trump to be a liar. The prosecutors and judges in the cases against Trump are not “Crooked and Corrupt.” Nor are they doing everything to interfere with the presidential election. If they were, at least two of the cases already would have gone to trial. And “EVIL and ‘SICK'” Jack Smith, who is “DERANGED,” would have brought his indictments against Trump in 2021 rather than 2023.
In the same post, President Trump demonstrates a flawed understanding of the law. He writes that the Georgia “PERSECUTION” is NULL, VOID, and ILLEGAL because of Fani Willis’ personal relationship with Nathan Wade. He implies that Willis and Wade are married, which is untrue, and that they are motivated by a desire to destroy America.
Would the conviction of Trump destroy America? Will America be destroyed if Trump is not elected president in November? I don’t think so.
Election Day is only seven months away. If Donald Trump’s melt-down continues, the Republican party will have to find somebody else to run against Joe Biden. It is premature to talk about what such a development would mean or who the Republican Party, which has been gutted since Trump appointed his daughter-in-law to help lead it, would appoint. What is certain is that the Trump that some of us (mistakenly in my view) admired and voted for, has left the building.
J.E. Dean is a retired attorney and public affairs consultant writing on politics, government, and, all too infrequently, other subjects.
Mickey Terrone says
Hi John. I think you’re correct in your comments. If anything, I’d suggest Trump expects and reeives “loyalty” from his henchmen who are working with him to foment these false these liesand distortions. His supporters, who seem to believe all the fallacies he utters have long since ceased questioning his motivations or tactics.
I think other co-conspirators assist or ghost write for him. Steve Bannon, Stephen Miller, Boris Epshtyne and others are the driving forces behind this massive effort to overthrow our democratic republic and have been since Trump and Bannon were introduced by the far right billionaires Robert and Rebekah Mercer. Trump can’t be doing this by himself.
The Republican Party has devolved into Trump’s cheerleaders. I have to believe most of these elected officials are fearful of publicly opposing him unless they act as a group. There certainly are numerous true believers among Trump’s state and federal elected officials, however. These are the abettors involved in planning and perpetrating the January 6th riot to overthrow the 2020 Electoral College results, the 148 Republicans who voted against accepting the results, including Andy Harris.
Your suggestion that they are becoming evermore desperate is fairly evident. The threatening language is their effort to create and maintain sufficient fear and anger among the deluded masses so they don’t spend any time thinking about the realities of Trump’s legal problems or the lunacy of his claims, especially the blasphemous idea that he is The Chosen One by God. Clearly, this madness is designed to spill over after the election into street violence and, I believe, political assassinations.
I believe they see this as their last best chance to turn America into a fully functioning oligarchy, like Russia. America’s virtual oligarchs want complete control, not just the massive political and economic influence they currently enjoy. With Trump, they have a demagogue who has deceived a significant portion of working class whites into believing anything he says, no matter how patently false. These people believe Trump will protect them from minorities, just as Hitler blamed the Jews for all of Germany’s ills in the 1930’s.
As Trump and his accomplices become more desperate, their rhetoric will likely become more frantic regarding immigration, betraying the larger scheme. Do you think its some coincidence that a billionaire decided to secure Trump’s $175 million bond? Billionaires are the oligarchs who benefit most from Trump’s tax breaks and the dark money that buy votes in Congress and pollute and undermine our political process. With the nearly complete support of the Republican Party, the US Supreme Court’s 6-3 conservative majority and openly aggressive support of Russia and China’s oligarchs, the stench of Trump’s campaign should be repulsive to every truly patriotic American.
John Dean says
Mickey: Thanks for your comment–as always, insightful.
Carol Roberts says
Did I miss something? Biden proclaimed Easter Sunday as Transgender Day of Visibility. What does that have to do with Easter?
John Dean says
Thank you for reading the piece and for commenting. I did miss something. I thought my article was about Donald Trump.
Anne C Stalfort says
I am sure you are aware of this but I will tell you anyway: Transgender Day of Visibility has been celebrated for years on March 31st. Easter this year was also on March 31st. Next year Easter will be on a different Day. I am glad we have a president who celebrates our diversity and treats all people with kindness.
trudy wonder says
Here’s how our top three presidential candidates spent their Easter Sundays. Draw your own conclusions.
Joe Biden: Went to church with his family. Two days previously, he issued a proclamation marking Transgender Day of Visibility on March, 31, 2024. This annual event occurs on March 31st, for the past 15 years. It was a coincidence that this date coincided with Easter this year. Also on Sunday, Biden’s White House organized an Easter Egg Exhibition for children from National Guard families in collaboration with the American Egg Board; the Egg Board specified that submissions should not include “religious symbols” or “overtly religious themes”, as has been done in previous years (including the Trump administration).
Donald Trump: Golfed and posted 77 ‘truths’ on Truth Social – one of which was a positive Easter message – the rest were ugly attacks on American people and institutions, and/or were shared posts likening him to Jesus and his Crucifixion. He did this on Easter Sunday. He also hawked a $60 Bible adapted to include U.S. Government documents and lyrics (which I personally find distasteful but to each his own). He did not attend church.
JFK Jr. held a César Chávez Day campaign event on Easter Sunday, March 31st. Cesar Chavez Day is a U.S. federal commemorative holiday, first proclaimed by President Barack Obama in 2014. It too falls on March 31 every year. (Note: The Chávez family has asked RFK Jr. to halt use of the Chávez name and imagery in his campaign, threatening to “pursue all legal action available” if he persists, while reiterating their support for President Biden. One of César Chávez’s granddaughters serves as Biden’s campaign manager. The Kennedy family has also publicly endorsed Biden and calls RFK Jr.’s campaign, “dangerous”.) I don’t know if he attended Easter services. If media/social media is any indication, people are generally less interested in how he spent his Sunday.
Anne C Stalfort says
You left out the Trump endorsed Bible, complete with our founding documents and a weird version of our National Anthem.
Barbara Denton says
I am so happy to see your TDS is still alive and well. You must have had nothing to do on Easter if you read 77 tweets from President Trump. I attended a lovely family party and did not have one political thought. I went to Church Easter morning and prayed for President Biden due to his dementia. No one in their right mind would make a declaration of National Trans visibility day on Good Friday and then not say a word about for Easter! We know the real reason we are celebrating is death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ who paid for all of our sins so we believers can be with him in heaven. The tweet you quoted wraps all of this illegal law-fare into one statement. The judges are crooked and corrupt. Donald Trump running for President is the real reason for the criminal charges. You are really delusional if you think President Donald Trump is melting. Each day reinforces his strength.
Hal De Bona says
Barbara,
For your clarification
“I quit reading them after the first dozen. They are repetitive and devoid of anything a future president should be contemplating on Easter.”
Your welcome
John Dean says
You are happy my TDS is alive and well? Why?
James Wilson says
oh my. methinks you have gone down the rabbit hole. you have littered your post with downright lies that are easily fact checked. Turn fox off. Please.
Wilson Dean says
John, you’ve done a (frightfully) accurate job of describing Trump’s descent into the incoherent, incomprehensible, and incompetent individual we now see. As you note, it will likely only get worse. As his numerous court cases continue to progress and his words/actions expand further beyond reality, will his cult followers stay with him? Or will the greed of some in the wealthy class and resentment of those in the working class over the loss of white privilege in our society lead them to follow him down the rabbit hole he has dug to lead us out of democracy and into autocracy? It is time for all of us to stop just shaking our heads over his lunatic ramblings and start alerting our fellow citizens that Trump’s election could strip away all of the values we most cherish as Americans.
John Dean says
As always, a great comment. Thank you for it. As you might guess, I am in complete agreement.
Paul Rybon says
It appears that Mr Dean is the one ‘losing it’ not seeming to be aware of another Biden goofy Easter proclamation. And is he unaware that the Georgia judge severely reprimanded ms. Fani for her indiscretion. Perhaps he has forgotten about the debunked Russian Dossier or the incriminating computer files of both Hunter Biden and Hillary Clinton. Which Government prosecutors refuse to investigate.
These happenings are situations that we should all be ranting about. Recent WSJ polls are finally beginning to reflect those realizations in Battleground states.
For the benefit of ordinary citizens who suffer from the Biden Orwelian policies maybe it’s a signal that we’ve had enough with Donald Trump leading the charge to dump the Biden Trainwreck. Maybe it’s not too late for the Dem operatives to switch candidates before it’s too late for our Country.
John Dean says
Thank you for reading the piece, despite your less than kind words.
I’m not sure how to respond to your various points, so I won’t.
Mickey Terrone says
Hi John. It appears that Trump’s legion is becoming more frantic by the day as employment figures grow along with the Dow. Interest rates will fall through the year and business investment and optimism will likely continue to boost our already vibrant economy as inflation is reduced.
The Republican Party took the Low Road in getting behind Trump and his madness. As a minority party, they chose to alienate evermore Americans by emphasizing ugly bigotry against immigrants, massive tax breaks for the wealthiest 1%, removing womens’ reproductive rights, dissing our justice and intelligence community, calling our military “suckers”, utterly failing to govern responsibly in the House of Representatives and trying to overthrow our 2020 election without any evidence to support that Big Lie.
Feeble rejoinders about Hillary and Hunter’s laptops are laughable considering all the national security leaks and idiotic claims that a president can just think a document is declassified and it officially becomes so. That some lemmings actually believe these absurd lies is why many Republicans have come to understand Trumpism has become a cult with religious, paramilitary and totalitarian overtones.
The bottom line here is that the desperation of Trump and his ultraconservative supporters has sunk to deeper depths as public support for their extremism dwindles. Given the crass disrespect for womens’ and minorities’ rights, I can see the Trumpist party losing both Houses of Congress along with the White House. I believe they can see it, too. And that is why the manic comments and claims from Trump and his followers beecome more extreme.
True Americans need to stay the course with our great democratic republic. We can certainly improve it, but the last thing we need is to go the authoritarian route, especially with an egomaniacal narcissist acting primarily in his own best interests. How can so many otherwise intelligent people not see this? When their candidate (again) claims the election will have been rigged against him if he loses (again), but not if he wins, those otherwise intelligent people have to know their candidate is deranged. Why trust a sick man like Trump in the White House? Because God decrees it? Imagine if Joe Biden made that claim? Republicans would be having crap hemorraghes in the streets.