On Thursday, Donald Trump continued his deceptive PR campaign, still claiming his administration is helping the families his administration forcibly separated at the border.
This morning’s episode of The Apprentice: White House showed Trump in a conference room surrounded by white men where he assured the media that he is “acting swiftly to address the illegal immigration crisis” of his own creation.
He doesn’t admit that part, of course, but he does continue to lump the blame onto Democrats even though the minority party had no hand in the crisis save for trying to end it.
My Administration is acting swiftly to address the illegal immigration crisis on the Southern Border. Loopholes in our immigration laws all supported by extremist open border Democrats…and that's what they are – they're extremist open border Democrats…. pic.twitter.com/F73I5gu0Q5
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 21, 2018
Walter Shaub, who served under Barack Obama as director of the Office of Government Ethics, watched the deceitful display in horror, taking to Twitter to vent his frustrations and correcting Trump’s lies:
“THIS PHOTO OP PRESS CONFERENCE IS A LOAD OF CRAP! THIS IS THE BIGGEST FLIM FLAM CON JOB! SHAME ON EVERYONE INVOLVED!” begins his anguished tirade.
Shaub goes on to point out the two most significant questions Wednesday’s executive order left unanswered: how will these families be reunited, and what is the process of recording identities for present and future separations?
THIS PHOTO OP PRESS CONFERENCE IS A LOAD OF CRAP!
THIS IS THE BIGGEST FLIM FLAM CON JOB! SHAME ON EVERYONE INVOLVED!
NO TALK ABOUT HOW THEY'RE GOING TO RETURN KIDS WHOSE PARENTS HAVE BEEN DEPORTED. NO EXPLANATION OF HOW IDENTITIES ARE RECORDED AND THEIR PARENTS ARE TRACKED.— Walter Shaub (@waltshaub) June 21, 2018
Trump signed a highly secretive executive order on Wednesday, which of course his daughter Ivanka has been given credit for even though she made no public appearances to speak on the matter.
Trump and his cabinet insist his move to suspend Stephen Miller and Jeff Sessions’ policy to separate families at the border has “fixed” the immigration crisis, even though Trump said on Tuesday only Congress or Democrats could fix it, and prior to that Homeland Security chief Kirstjen Nielsen insisted there was no policy in the first place.
Outside of the delusional realm of Fox News, the executive order does nothing to help those already affected by the policy, and does little to prevent a similar crisis from brewing in the future.
Trump claimed otherwise, telling reporters in the press conference that the detained kids seem to be enjoying their stay inside the cages. He didn’t directly quote Laura Ingraham’s likening of the detention centers to summer camps, but the Fox News influence was evident in his speech.
Shaub hammered down on this in a follow-up tweet, choosing select phrases from Trump’s propaganda rally to call out before proclaiming:
“JUST STOP THIS SHAM! UNBELIEVABLE CRAP!”
"You can see the smiles on their faces and you'll hear them giggle"
"we try to assimilate them"
"this is their home"
"this is their house, their bedrooms are theirs"
JUST STOP THIS SHAM! UNBELIEVABLE CRAP!
— Walter Shaub (@waltshaub) June 21, 2018
Shaub finished his rant with a third tweet, abandoning the exclamatory use of caps lock to communicate his utter disgust, a sentiment anyone paying attention will share.
This is pure propaganda. They hope schmaltz is the opiate of the masses.
— Walter Shaub (@waltshaub) June 21, 2018
As Shaub pointed out, this is nothing but naked propaganda. The press conference occurred for a singular purpose: to give conservative news outlets and Trump’s base imagery to which they can point and exclaim, “SEE! THE GREAT FIXER!” before wrapping themselves in a flag lined with tinfoil.
The children are still very much in need of help in spite of what was said in this press conference; some may never see their families again. Trump mustn’t be allowed to subvert that reality for his own twisted, racist gain.
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