Most global political, spiritual and national leaders mark Christmas with a plea for peace, or by stressing the virtues of family and unity.
That’s not Donald Trump’s style.
The ex-president unleashed an online torrent of fury and bitterness, largely over his legal plights, spanning Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, previewing the discord and personal obsessions he will inflict on the nation in a pivotal election year in 2024.
Trump raged at President Joe Biden and special counsel Jack Smith, making expansive and false claims that his attempts to stay in power after losing the 2020 election represented a vital defense of American democracy and were thus perfectly legal. In a tide of invective in block capitals on his Truth Social network, Trump escalated extreme rhetoric on immigration that has drawn comparisons to Nazi demagoguery in the 1940s and reprised his view of unlimited presidential power that has critics fearing autocracy if he wins the next election.
Just three weeks before voting starts in the Republican nominating race, the front-runner also underscored the extraordinary extent to which false claims about electoral fraud three years ago are still the anchor of his political project. And his tirades, at a time when Americans who celebrate Christmas gathered with loved ones and sought a moment of peace, hint at a furious state of mind and extreme denialism. These are likely to raise new concerns about his temperament and suitability to serve again as commander-in-chief and are a dark omen as to what another Trump term could bring.
In one of his posts, Trump showed a mixture of anger and self-pity while making multiple false or questionable claims.
“THEY SPIED ON MY CAMPAIGN, LIED TO CONGRESS, CHEATED ON FISA, RIGGED A PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION, ALLOWED MILLIONS OF PEOPLE, MANY FROM PRISONS & MENTAL INSTITUTIONS, TO INVADE OUR COUNTRY, SCREWED UP IN AFGHANISTAN, & JOE BIDEN’S MISFITS & THUGS, LIKE DERANGED JACK SMITH, ARE COMING AFTER ME, AT LEVELS OF PERSECUTION NEVER SEEN BEFORE IN OUR COUNTRY??? IT’S CALLED ELECTION INTERFERENCE. MERRY CHRISTMAS!” Trump posted on Christmas Eve.
His mood barely improved on Christmas Day, as he accused Biden of presiding over election interference, in a reference to the 91 criminal charges and four criminal trials he is awaiting. But Trump promised his supporters “A BIG AND GLORIOUS VICTORY FOR THOSE BRAVE AND VALIANT PATRIOTS WHO WANT TO MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN. MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL!!!”
Source: Stephen Collinson
D-Ample Newspaper 