I watched the 2020 RNC Convention. I wanted to see what a “platform-free” political convention would look like and what the presenters would have to say. A few things were clear to me: number one, Donald Trump knows television. The Pacing, the production values, the anecdotal placements were all first rate. Before I allowed myself to be surprised, I recalled the reason for such a compelling production: Donald Trump is, and has been throughout his career, a con artist.
To be successful, a con artist must have the skills to make falsehoods appear to be truths, reality. As Gabriel Cane (James Woods) says in the movie Diggstown, “Do you know the difference between a hustler and a good con man? … A hustler has to get out of town as quick as he can, but a good con man — he doesn’t have to leave until he wants to.” In the same vein, Henry Gondorf (Paul Newman) in The Sting tells Johnny Hooker (Robert Redford) “You have to keep this con even after you take his money. He can’t know you took him.”
So, what was the RNC con’s objective? To make it appear that Trump’s dishonesty, cruelty, leadership failures, racism, misogyny, etc. are mistaken characterizations of what is, in fact, a sensitive, warm, caring and compellingly effective human being. In order to create and sustain that illusion it was necessary to use violations of the law, specifically the Hatch Act, in service of the objective.
In simple terms, the Hatch act prohibits using the trappings of government and governmental position to advance particular, partisan political agendas. The underlying rationale is that governing and campaigning are separate activities, the former properly supported with tax dollars and intended to benefit the citizenry and country in general; the latter with campaign funds intended to benefit particular candidates and political positions. Mark Meadows, the White House chief of staff, candidly expressed White House reverence for the Hatch act thusly: “Nobody outside of the Beltway really cares.”
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo took to the podium to extol President Trump’s virtues — a fairly unmistakable campaign function. The proffered justification: that Pompeo was speaking not as Secretary of State but as Mike Pompeo, U.S. citizen. His speech was recorded from Jerusalem, where as Secretary of State he was participating in an official Middle East tour.
Any viewer who could have viewed Pompeo in a light other than Secretary of State must truly be a denizen of the “alternative facts’ universe.
The White House lawn itself became a campaign prop. The White House belongs to the people — conservative, liberal and everything in between — but Trump used the setting to advance his partisan, political agenda as if the setting’s genuine majesty could intimate support for Trump’s candidacy. The White House is the people’s house, not Trump’s house, and yet he used it as a platform to praise certain portions of the electorate and to vilify others.
Whether one agrees with Trump or not, citizens all have equal claim to the White House as a comprehensively embracing symbol of the United States seat of government for all the country’s citizenry.
Additional partisan campaign props? Donald Trump, ostentatiously entering the stage as Hail to the Chief blared over loud speakers to host the naturalization of five new United States Citizens; all from different countries and all people of color. Is there another moment in Donald Trump’s presidency in which he greeted immigrants from India, Ghana, Sudan, Lebanon, and Bolivia warmly to the United States? A glaring hallmark of Trump’s presidency has been anti-immigrant xenophobia. But look here, the gesture seems to be saying, these five cherry picked exceptions demonstrate that Trump’s numerous other xenophobic pronouncements don’t truly reflect his heart.
There, voters, you have permission to look the other way.
It is well known that Trump has used his authority to pardon or give clemency to well connected Washington insiders and/or avid Trump supporters. The list includes Jo Arpaio, Lewis “Scooter” Libby, Dinesh D’Souza, Michael Milken, Roger Stone and many others. But look over here! A black man convicted of bank robbery, Jon Ponder, founder of the laudable “Hope for Prisoners” program, gets a pardon because of his good works.
A perfectly natural apolitical convention event, don’t you agree?
Donald Trump is not, by any stretch of the imagination, the warm, expansively sensitive and humane Donald Trump the RNC pomp and circumstance presented for voters’ consideration. He is a con artist and the platform-less Republican National Con-vention provided the ideal tabula rasa to paint him in the flattering pastels of presidential caring and fortitude he in no other way represents.
It’s a con. Don’t let it fool you.
