Axios reported Monday morning that Americans should expect to see a different kind of Donald Trump in the wake of Saturday’s assassination attempt.
“Almost dying rocks perspectives — and people,” the report read.
Axios added: “Yes, Trump has shown little appetite for changing his ways, tone and words. But his advisers tell us Trump plans to seize his moment by toning down his Trumpiness, and dialing up efforts to unite a tinder-box America, when the Republican convention opens Monday in Milwaukee.”
A few hours later, the former president stepped all over this reporting, publishing this missive to his social media platform:
As we move forward in Uniting our Nation after the horrific events on Saturday, this dismissal of the Lawless Indictment in Florida should be just the first step, followed quickly by the dismissal of ALL the Witch Hunts — The January 6th Hoax in Washington, D.C., the Manhattan D.A.’s Zombie Case, the New York A.G. Scam, Fake Claims about a woman I never met (a decades old photo in a line with her then husband does not count), and the Georgia “Perfect” Phone Call charges. The Democrat Justice Department coordinated ALL of these Political Attacks, which are an Election Interference conspiracy against Joe Biden’s Political Opponent, ME. Let us come together to END all Weaponization of our Justice System, and Make America Great Again!
For now, let’s not spend a lot of time pointing out every individual error of fact and judgment in the Republican’s missive. Fair-minded observers already know, for example, that the indictment in the classified documents case wasn’t “illegal” and that Jan. 6 wasn’t a “hoax.”
What stood out as notable in this 123-word missive was how predictably Trumpy it was. The idea that the Republican would be “toning down his Trumpiness” in the wake of Saturday’s shooting in Pennsylvania is belied by the fact that his missive was effectively identical to everything he’s been saying for months. The former president pushed baseless conspiracy theories, targeted writer E. Jean Carroll in ways his defense counsel would probably advise against, peddled a familiar-but-nonsensical claim about his alleged election interference efforts in Georgia, and so on. What’s the tonal difference between Trump’s message this morning and the GOP candidate’s standard rhetoric from recent months? There is no tonal difference. Around this time yesterday, Trump published an item that read, simply, “UNITE AMERICA!” In light of Monday’s missive, it’s hardly unreasonable to wonder whether he defines “unity” as everyone agreeing with his conspiratorial vision and his desire to avoid accountability for wrongdoing.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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