Weird

When former president and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump took the stage on Wednesday to answer questions before the National Association of Black Journalists, it kind of surprised me that he wasn't wearing a white robe with a pointed hood.

In one of the most repulsive spectacles of his repugnant career as a politician, Trump insulted, insinuated, implied and incensed an entire culture with elements of his white supremacy.

His tirades began almost before he settled into his chair when he scolded ABC News correspondent Rachel Scott for not being "nice" after she posed her opening question of the event.

What a boor he is. Journalists aren't tasked with being nice. It is their job rather to ask the tough questions – especially of elected officials –  in an effort to seek truth and accountability. Those are two things that Trump repeatedly shows us that he knows nothing about.

After thus setting the tone right from that start of the Q&A for the next 35 minutes, the bottom came fast when he said he didn't know that presumptive Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris was Black (her parents are Jamaican and Asian). 

Ridiculous. Who is he to question how a person identifies herself? So who is he, indeed? He's an adjudicated rapist. He's a 34-times convicted felon awaiting sentencing. He's a fraudster. These are absolute truths, in the way that it's true Harris is Black. So the question is, when will Trump identify himself as a felonious rapist and fraud?

If his appearance before NABJ was meant to clarify his always inarticulate positions for Black voters, I think he instead began shedding votes like a (Donald) duck sheds water. I don't see how this kind of performance (which I thought was intentional) helps his candidacy, either among Blacks or other voting coalitions.

It just highlights his repugnance.

I can only imagine that Trump pooped in his pajamas Friday morning when he learned that 16 prisoners were released from Russia, including Americans Paul Whelan and Evan Gershkovich. Trump once claimed only he could get Gershkovich back home because of his "close" ties with Putin. Trump said he would do that after he won the election in November.

So instead of being gracious and welcoming the prisoners back home, Trump became his truculent self and criticized the entire process, saying he could have done better.

He claimed he could have gotten all the prisoners back home without making concessions in the deals to have them released.

Truth is (there's that word "truth" again), Trump is lying. Imagine that. During his first term as president, three Taliban leaders were exchanged for one American in November 2019. In December 2019, one Iranian prisoner was exchanged for on American. Later, 5000 Taliban prisoners were exchanged for 1,000 prisoners "of the other side" in February 2020. In July 2020, one Iranian prisoner was exchanged for one American. And in October 2020, a total of 250 Houthi rebels were exchanged for two Americans.

That's the Art of the Deal right there.

Weird.