Donald Trump, in a cabinet meeting last week after the GOP passed its big tax bill – the only major legislative achievement of his first year as so-called president – said this:
“But Obamacare has been repealed in this bill. We didn’t want to bring it up. I told people specifically be quiet with the fake news media because I don’t want them
talking too much about it. Cause I didn’t know how people would... But now that
it’s approved I can say the individual mandate on health care – where you had to
pay not to have insurance, okay, think of that, where you pay not to have insurance
– the individual mandate has been repealed.”
I think this is a superb example of Trump’s inability to control his mouth – and, in doing so, reveals something he shouldn’t normally want revealed. Consider this:
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He’s boasting about the repeal of the individual mandate (a GOOD THING from his point of view, right?), at the same time as he’s saying he felt the need to downplay this supposedly GOOD THING.
It’s like saying “We cured cancer, but we wanted to stay quiet about it.” -
In order to keep the American people from hearing about this GOOD THING
the Republicans were doing, Trump didn’t want the “fake news” talking about it.
In other words, he didn’t want the media, which he claims tell only lies, to report (and obsess about) this good, but TRUE, thing. Surely he was afraid that by telling the public the truth about this GOOD THING, the media would make it sound BAD. What made him think his followers would believe the media anyway? - And Trump’s reason for this hush-hush approach (and here is the REVEAL)
was that he wasn’t sure “how people would...” Would, would...something. I’m sure he was about to say “how people would react” or
“how people would take it” or "how people would like it". It’s like saying “We’ve cured cancer, but I’m not
sure whether people will be happy about it.”
But as he was about to speak those words, Trump suddenly realized where his train of thought was taking him. He pulled back at the last moment and left the sentence unfinished. After all, it would have been an admission that not everyone thinks this GOOD THING is really that good. Maybe even he realizes that – outside the 35% of Americans who will follow him to the ends of the Earth – many Americans, maybe even most, might not actually want him to “repeal Obamacare”. - So, while the provision to rescind the individual mandate was being
considered (you can’t say “debated”, since there was hardly any of that), Trump didn’t dare talk about it.
But after the deal was done, after the die was cast, the Rubicon crossed, the point of no return passed, when it was too late to do anything about it, then it was okay to come clean. Hence, his “But now that it’s approved I can say...”
It’s like telling your wife, “Honey, I’ve sold the house and we’re all moving to Mexico. I didn’t tell you before, cause I knew you’d object, but now that it’s too late, I thought you should know. ¡Olé!”
In summary: Trump didn’t want the LYING PRESS telling the TRUTH about the VERY GOOD THING he was doing for Americans, because he knew that many of those Americans would think it was NOT a good thing, but after it was TOO LATE to change it, he couldn’t help BRAGGING about how he’d tried to HIDE the whole thing since it was such a VERY GOOD THING.
And what fake president wouldn't be proud of that?
