In the beginning, God created Donald J. Trump…or at least his supporters would have you believe.
According to the story that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo spins, Trump was sent by God. And why not? He’s good at creating things, in particular crises that distract from unwanted news stories. He even creates crises when none is necessary.
And why not? Given that his base is largely composed of “Christian” Evangelicals who would rather believe in Creationism than science.
Let’s take a look at some of the crises he’s created.
When he lost the popular vote, he created the crisis claiming that millions of votes were illegal.
When his Attorney General recused himself from the Russia investigation, he created the crisis that President Obama had his phones tapped.
When funding for his beloved wall failed to pass through Congress, he created a crisis along the border.
When the stock markets started to sputter, he created the trade war with China.
Prior to the end of the Mueller investigation, he created a crisis by demanding that comedy shows like Saturday Night Live be investigated for treating him unfairly, even though the show was a re-run.
These crises (the list is hardly complete) were all of his own making, yet his base believes every crooked word.
And then there is his propaganda network, Fox News. If they aren’t reporting on the latest crisis, they are making up stories to create one. So often, Trump will Tweet about a story presented on his own version of the Christian Broadcast Network that results in another manufactured crisis.
I can only imagine Sean Hannity, Jeanine Pirro and Tucker Carlson sitting back and slyly winking to each other with a knowing “Watch this”, as they spin the most convoluted conspiracy theories, only to see Trump take the bate and explode on Twitter.
Let’s face it. Fox viewers are more interested in ratings than facts. They constantly spout how Hannity is more popular than Chris Cuomo or Rachel Maddow, as if ratings make their lies more believable.
As a result, the creating of crises has become a cottage industry, and one that needs to come to an end. Sadly, however, so long as there is an appetite for such garbage, it will continue.
CJ Waldron is a retired English teacher from upstate New York. An adjunct instructor at Horry Georgetown Technical College, he lives in Conway, SC with his wife, Donna.