Trump’s “Committee to Defend the President” Is Indefensible

“Hatred is the most accessible and comprehensive of all the unifying agents. Mass movements can rise and spread without belief in a god, but never without a belief in a devil.”

-Eric Hoffer

Some think President Donald Trump has taken his con artistry to a whole new low. To be sure, and like he wrote in “The Art of the Deal,” where he bragged about using deception that enriches himself,(1) every day thousands of True Believers make phone calls and send letters to raise money for his Committee to Defend the President. Similar to his once touted but now defunct Trump University, in which a federal court approved a $25 million settlement with students who said they were duped by his false promises,(2) they moreover say that he uses high pressure sales techniques and fear tactics on would be donors which includes fostering hatred towards a demonized opponent.

Normalizing the Indefensible
The phone calls and letters start with how Trump has already planned his next presidency. Callers and letters then list a litany of accomplishments, like cutting taxes, healing the economy, slowing down illegal immigration, rebuilding the military, making America safe from terrorists and great again, and lowering unemployment. They then launch into a tirade against Democrats. Along with their commitment to destroying everything Trump has done, they’re coming after the president in an “all out fight” to return Washington to the Obama status quo.”(3) Ideas evidently take a back seat to unproven rumors and fear, something that would normally be indefensible for any campaign.

So do facts. As if their campaigning like it’s still 2016, they claim “the Democratic war room to destroy Trump has full funding from D.C. mega donors, and is staffed with ex-Clinton and Obama operatives.” Callers and letters also warn of a “revenge plot that can’t be taken lightly, and it’s up to the would be donors to defend Trump from attacks that Hollywood, the media, and the far left are planning.”(4) In addition to repeating the revenge plot towards the end again, there’s a final plea to give or pledge money. In the end, it’s clear that Trump must be saved from an omnipresent enemy-the indispensable devil which is necessary for any mass movement.

Injecting More Indefensible Fear
Meanwhile, callers are taught not to not take “no” for an answer. Trained to extend the call of a “no pledger” by asking questions like, “How is the weather there?”, or “Can I deliver a personal message to the President since he wants to hear from you,” such talking points are designed to establish a rapport with the “no pledger” in order to ask again at the end of the conversation if they’d like to change their minds or request a call-back. Posing a “Can you just imagine a Clinton or Far Left White House?” question, or a warning-shot about how Democrats and establishment Republicans are fighting to keep the swamp, merely injects more indefensible fear and hysteria.(5)

It gets even worse with Facebook’s Committee to Defend the President‘s page. With one million followers, there’s no end to clips that insult Hillary Clinton or demonize Robert Mueller and his Deep State’s “Witch Hunt” to rid America of Trump. Between pro-Trump FOX News reports and polls, Trump-Pence photos say: “Bet you can’t make the Democrats defend Hamas and M-13 Gang in the same week.” There’s also an endless array of indefensible comments like, “Obama, Lynch, Comey, Mueller, Clapper, Brennan are guilty of High Crimes and Misdemeanors and should be jailed now!”, “Thank God Trump happened!”, and “If it comes from CNN it is a lie. Plain and simple.”(6)

Indefensibly Preying On Seniors
What’s really indefensible, however, is how Trump and the now bankrupt Cambridge Analytica teamed up to data mine Facebook users, specifically the elderly. A major target in raising funds, the Committee to Defend the President zeros in on these viewers who watch and get all their news from FOX News or the Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity Shows. Given that callers and letters already have a tremendous amount of personal and private information on such individuals, they’re able to moreover prey upon seniors’ fears and political anxieties, reminding them of “Obamacare,” the so-called Death Panels, and crimes committed by illegal immigrants.

After months of cultivating political leaders from foreign nations, Trump and his family have made billions from new business deals, some which has gone to his campaign. He’s also appointed cabinet officials and nominated Supreme Court justices who’ve earned millions of dollars defending corrupt banks involved in money laundering, tax evasion, and other white-collar crimes. It’s therefore indefensible that one source of Trump’s funds comes from the very people who can’t afford to donate, or that his influence comes from people who distrust respected news organizations and instead rely on those that have been shown to have little regard for fact, especially when it comes to him.

The Most Indefensible Aspect
Since the devil comes in many disguises, some warn that this may consequently be the most indefensible aspect of Trump’s Committee to Defend the President.

Dallas Darling is the author of Politics 501: An A-Z Reading on Conscientious Political Thought and Action, Some Nations Above God: 52 Weekly Reflections On Modern-Day Imperialism, Militarism, And Consumerism in the Context of John’s Apocalyptic Vision, and The Other Side Of Christianity: Reflections on Faith, Politics, Spirituality, History, and Peace. He is a correspondent for www.WN.com. You can read more of Dallas’ writings at www.beverlydarling.com and www.WN.com/dallasdarling.

(1) Johnston, David Cay. It’s Even Worse Than You Think: What the Trump Administration Is Doing to America. New York, New York: Simon & Schuster, 2018., p. 9.
(2) www.nbc.com. “Federal Court Approves $25 Million Trump University Settlement,” by Tom Winter and Dartonurro Clark. February 16, 2018.
(3) See “The Committee to Defend the President” Letter.
(4) See “The Committee to Defend the President” Letter.
(5) Interview With “The Committee to Defend the President” caller.
(6) See The Committee to Defend the President’s Facebook Page. www.facebook.com/CommitteeToDefendThePresident/.