Trump supporters continually yell, “Deep State” or “Hoax” when confronted with factual information about Donald Trump. The following stories expose Trump’s pathological lying and reveal him as the true purveyor of misinformation in America.
From 1959-1964, Trump attended the New York Military Academy (NYMA). While there Trump participated in baseball and was co-captain. In 2005, Trump contributed a story for Brian Kilmeade’s book: “The Games Do Count.” Trump wrote, “the first time I saw my name in the newspaper … It was when I got the winning homerun in a game between our academy and Cornwall High School. It was 1964.”
According to a Slate article by Leander Schaerlaeckens (May 5, 2020), Trump’s baseball heroics never happened because NYMA didn’t play Cornwall High School in 1963 or 1964. No local newspapers noted Trump’s game winning homerun.
In 2015, Trump told biographer, Michael ‘Antonio (“The Truth About Trump”), that he was the best athlete in every sport at NYMA. Trump’s senior yearbook noted that baseball co-captain, Jim Toomey, was voted “Most Athletic” by his classmates. Toomey also won NYMA’s ”Laidlaw Athletic Award” for Best Athlete in the school.
In 2004, Donald Trump also claimed, “I was supposed to be a pro baseball player.” Trump stated that he attended a baseball tryout with Willie McCovey. After observing McCovey’s baseball prowess, Trump decided to pursue real estate. The problem with Trump’s story is that Willie McCovey is eight years older than Trump. McCovey entered the National League in 1959, five years before Trump’s claimed tryout. McCovey was named National League “Rookie of the Year” in 1959 and is a baseball “Hall of Famer.”
Trump made this preposterous claim about our military; “When I took over our military, we did not have any ammunition.” Investigative reporter David Cay Johnston wrote (April 4, 2020), “There are at least 371 Government Accounting Office reports on ammunition with the recurring theme that the armed services have more than they need.”
Under Obama (2009-2016), the Department of Defense’s annual budgets averaged $792 billion. If our military leaders failed to purchase ammunition with budgets of this magnitude, they should resign.
Concerning the economy Trump stated: “To be honest, I inherited a mess.” President Obama inherited the “Great Recession,” not Trump. When Obama left office, unemployment was at 4.7% (down from 10%), the economy added 2 million jobs per year from 2011-2016, U.S. stock values rose 12% for eight consecutive years, corporate profits were up 57% since 2008, in 2014 corporate profits were $1.74 trillion, the DOW Jones stood at 19,887 (up from 7,949), and average weekly earnings for workers was up 4%. Trump didn’t inherit a mess but rather an economy on the rise.
On Feb. 26, Trump said the following about the Strategic National Stockpiles (SNS); “We took over an empty shelf.” This was Trump’s excuse for his administrations pathetic response to the coronavirus pandemic.
Nell Greenfieldboyce of National Public Radio visited one of the six Strategic National Stockpiles (SNS) in June 2016. Collectively, the six SNS contain “approximately 7 billion in products,” per the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine. The SNS annual budget is over $500 million. Ms. Greenfieldboyce wrote, “shelves packed with stuff stand so tall that looking up makes me dizzy.” If you’re Trump, the empty shelf excuse sounds better than, our incompetent COVID-19 pandemic response resulted in 160,000 Americans dead and 5 million infected.
Trump has spent a lifetime lying, deceiving, and manipulating people. The stories that I’ve conveyed makes it abundantly clear that Trump can’t be trusted. Blind loyalty to any president is no virtue.
Jesus of Nazareth warned us about men like Donald Trump saying; “Be on guard against false prophets, who come to you in sheeps clothing but underneath are wolves on the prowl. You will know them by their deeds.”
Paul Guimond is a resident of Royalston.