Donald Trump did deliver what I believe we can safely call his final address as president
of the United States yesterday.
It's basically an unrecognizable person.
This is not a Trump we have ever seen before.
It's not like Trump has been this person we saw yesterday for the last four years, but
was pretending to be somebody else.
I believe that the Trump we saw yesterday is a fake Trump.
It is a desperate Trump.
And Trump's speech yesterday is a desperate plea for mercy.
Trump is isolated, furious, abandoned by many Republicans, banned from a number of social
media accounts.
And he sat in the Oval Office yesterday and recorded what he hopes is a speech that will
save him, that will take the pressure off in terms of a possible impeachment conviction
in the Senate.
He is attempting to dial down the possibility of future investigations into his endless
wrongdoing.
Let's take a look at it.
My fellow Americans, I want to speak to you tonight about the troubling events of the
past week.
As I have said, the incursion of the U.S. Capitol struck at the very heart of our republic.
It angered and appalled millions of Americans across the political spectrum.
I want to be very clear, I unequivocally condemn the violence that we saw last week, violence
and vandalism have absolutely no place in our country and no place in our movement.
Making America great again has always been about defending the rule of law.
So a unifying and empathetic Trump.
Right.
Give me a break, guys.
No one who has been paying attention for the last really now five plus years is falling
for this.
This is Trump having a speech on a prompter shoved in front of him and being told this
is what you need to say to maybe save yourself from some of what is unlike what is likely
to be coming.
And, of course, Trump now the unifier around the riots he caused through his two months
of election lies and a speech saying, let's go to the Capitol right now.
Now, of course, the Magga movement has never been about defending the rule of law.
They say that.
But even before being president, Trump would tell his supporters that if they are rough
with protesters at his rallies and they get arrested and charged, he'll pay their legal
fees.
And now, as we'll find out on the bonus show today, Trump doesn't pay anybody's legal fees.
He's not even paying his own.
But we'll get to that later.
Let's get to more of yesterday's bizarre statement from Trump.
Mob violence goes against everything I believe in and everything our movement stands for.
No true supporter of mine could ever endorse political violence.
No true supporter of mine could ever disrespect law enforcement or our great American flag.
No true supporter of mine could ever threaten or harass their fellow Americans.
If you do any of these things, you are not supporting our movement.
You're attacking it and you are attacking our country.
We can not tolerate it.
Tragically, over the course of the past year, made so difficult because of covid-19, Trump
caused the mob violence.
His supporters led a mob.
It's sort of a no true Scotsman situation.
If anyone rioted, then by definition they couldn't have been my supporters.
Well, sir, they had Trump hats and Trump shirts and Trump flags when they broke in and when
they gave interviews, they said they were for Trump.
And when they posted to social media, they said they were for Trump.
Yeah, but they weren't true supporters of mine.
Indefeasible right.
It's a closed loop.
You can't you can't break it, as we talked about last week.
Trump also, by the way, mentioned covid-19 there.
Now, Trump, of course, has disastrously mishandled the virus.
So everything about this speech is just fantasy world Looney Tunes.
Here's another uniting message from this new Trump.
Whether you are on the right or on the left, a Democrat or a Republican, there is never
a justification for violence.
No excuses, no exceptions.
America is a nation of laws.
Those who engaged in the attacks last week will be brought to justice.
Now, I am asking everyone who has ever believed in our agenda to be thinking of ways to ease
tensions, calm tempers and help to promote peace in our country.
Now, some people might hear Trump say everyone will be brought to justice and they will react
by saying, wow, Trump's doing the right thing.
He's being tough on the rioters.
That really takes takes some strength.
Trump never cared about the rioters.
Here's what people have to understand.
When they were rioting, Trump was pleased.
Initially, we know he was liking it and he liked how it delayed the electoral vote count.
He never cared about the rioters as people.
He never cared about the rioters as his voters or supporters.
It just was useful to his political goals.
Then Trump noticed that the rioters looked low class.
That's these are the reports.
We got multiple reports about that Trump still didn't care about them as people.
He just cared about how they made him look and low class rioters made Trump look bad.
Remember, Trump has spent his entire life trying to stay away from people like most
of his supporters, that his golf clubs and at his high rise apartments and then the rioters.
Now we're getting arrested.
And it led to Trump's impeachment.
So Trump denounces them and says, they're not my true supporters and they're going to
be persecuted, prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
He's not abandoning anyone in so far as he was never actually with them.
They were always merely political tools.
And now he's using this to try to get points for lowering the temperature.
But it's much too late to matter.
Let's watch a little bit more.
Donald Trump saying don't do any more riots, please.
There has been reporting that additional demonstrations are being.
Planned in the coming days, both here in Washington and across the country.
I have been briefed by the U.S. Secret Service on the potential threats every American deserves
to have their voice heard in a respectful and peaceful way.
That is your First Amendment right.
But I cannot emphasize that there must be no violence, no lawbreaking and no vandalism
of any kind.
Everyone must follow our laws and obey the instructions of law enforcement.
I have directed federal agencies to use all necessary resources to maintain order in Washington,
D.C.
We are bringing in thousands of National Guard members to secure the city and ensure that
a transition can occur safely and without incident.
So there it is.
Trump sending a message.
No more riots.
Now, Trump can't get out of this without doing some of his typical routines.
So here Trump goes after social media platforms for banning him as assaults on free speech.
I also want to say a few words about the unprecedented assault on free speech we have seen in recent
days.
These are tense and difficult times.
The efforts to censor, cancel and blacklist our fellow citizens are wrong and they are
dangerous.
What is needed now is for us to listen to one another, not to silence one another.
All of us can choose by our actions to rise above the rancor and find common ground and
shared purpose.
We must focus on advancing the interests of the whole nation, delivering the miracle vaccines,
defeating the pandemic, rebuilding the economy, protecting our national security and upholding
the rule of law.
Now, of course, the social media stuff is not a free speech issue.
I'm not going to get into that again.
We've gone over that ad nauseum.
And, of course, this Donald Trump, we've never seen this Trump because he doesn't exist.
This isn't the real Trump.
The real guy is the guy.
He has plainly been in public, which matches the guy.
He's plainly been in private.
That's the real Trump.
The five minute Trump we saw yesterday is just a pathetic, desperate attempt to save
himself and get some mercy so that Republicans, when the impeachment trial starts, can say,
listen, Trump lowered the temperature, he dialed it down.
We're not going to vote to convict.
That's the goal.
And one more thing.
If this would have been Trump all along, it would have been fake, but he would have gotten
reelected if with the virus, Trump had done that and said this is a tough time.
Let's listen to the doctors.
No mass anti mass protest.
Just listen to the doctors.
Way fewer people would have died and Trump would have sailed to reelection.
There would have been no riot and Trump would be getting another four years, too little
too late from fake Trump.
Let me know your reaction.
I'm on Twitter at
David Pakman,