The Conversation (0)
Kate Plummer
Mar 30, 2021
AFP via Getty Images
Donald Trump has launched a website celebrating his time as US president.
The website, 45office.com (referencing that he was the 45th US President), says it is “committed to preserving the magnificent legacy of the Trump Administration, while at the same time advancing the America First agenda.”
In apparently doing so, it lists the former president’s “achievements” in an 885-word thought dump.
But the website is slightly selective in its preservation of the last four years, and has missed out some key points:
Economy
According to 45office.com, “President Trump ushered in a period of unprecedented economic growth, job creation, soaring wages and booming incomes. During the pandemic last year, the US economy suffered one if its worst financial crashes.
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Coronavirus
Let’s spin the wheel again. Ah, coronavirus. The website says: “When the coronavirus plague arrived from China, affecting every nation around the globe, President Trump acted early and decisively.” In actuality, Trump spent the first weeks of the crisis dismissing the virus as no worse than the flu, questioning the efficacy of masks, encouraging anti-lockdown protesters AND touting an ineffective anti-malaria drug as a potential treatment for coronavirus. Somehow this information didn’t make the cut.
Impeachments
The essay had another noticeable gap. It failed to mention the fact that Trump faced two impeachment trials in Congress and was the first President in history to do so. Since he is such a fan of grandstanding, this omission is peculiar.
Popularity
It also failed to mention that Trump was the first US president to lose the popular vote twice. Hillary Clinton secured 2.8 million more votes than Trump in 2016, and Joe Biden received 7 million more. Trump, of course, is the man of the people.
Riots
Trump “mobilized voters with massive rallies and “reached America’s hearts and minds”, so sayeth his website. Alright, but he also mobilised the Capitol riot with supportive posts on social media, and also used Twitter to encourage several anti-lockdown protests.
Social Media
Indeed, the subsequent ban from social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter that followed the Capitol riot is also strangely not in the essay. We wonder why. And it is clear he’s not missed:
Political background
Donald Trump would have you believe he was the “first true outsider elected as President of the United States”. It’s not quite clear what is meant by this, but as a white man and one of seven businessmen who have had the keys to the White House, this seems a suspicious claim to say the least.
Environment
Trump apparently had “a robust commitment to environmental conservation” which included “prioritizing the clean-up of major pollution sites and investing billions in clean water infrastructure”.
But Trump repealed a ruling that placed limits on polluting chemical that could be used near bodies of water. He has also said of global warming: “It’ll start getting cooler. You just watch… I don’t think science knows, actually.” So, the man’s no Greta Thunberg.
The essay concludes: “President Trump never wavered in defense of our values, our families, our traditions, and our freedom.”
We’d like to hear what Joe Biden has to say about that.