Cut Through the Media. How to Really Grasp Donald Trump.....and no, it ain't by the pussy

I don't think there are words that will get you a more visceral reaction then Donald Trump. Either trumpeting cheers, or savage boos, the polarizing affect of that name is such that I haven't seen in my lifetime. Whatever your opinion of him, there is no denying the media has played a large role in shaping peoples opinions of him

It is impossible to hear some of the stories and not become either polarized or numb to them. The same story can be interpreted so many different ways it is mind boggling. It can either reaffirm your opinions of him, or cause you to scream fake news and disregard the information. So what is the best way the cut through it all and listen to what Trump is really saying? What he really believes? How much does he know? In my pursuit of this question, I found that there was no better place to hear it from, then his mouth. So I have read transcripts of his interviews during the past year. I find that is the best because Trumps public speaking, and his communication/charm can cloud the words. It can make it difficult to decipher what he says, but reading transcripts puts it into perspective.

I will provide full links, so you can read for yourself his words and use your own reasoning. Critically thinking to set yourself free from reliance on outside interpretation.

There are always things you can learn from others, but don't let them be yourselves

So here is the first interview which takes place this October and is conducted by Sean Hannity

For thoose unaware, Hannity is a fox news host with a popular news opinion show and has been a vocal supporter of Donald Trump.

Full link https://factba.se/transcript/donald-trump-interview-sean-hannity-october-11-2017
Interview takes place this October.

To start off the interview Hannity says to begin with some good news and cites a 16 year low in unemployment as well as record stock market gains. Which are great things. It can be debated whether this was Trump or just a continuation of the path from the previous administration. Personally I think a little of both. I think the economy would be going in this direction no matter what, but the degree of increase in the stock market can be attributed to to Trump.

Trump responds with that he really loves it, that he is doing the job for the people and they see it. Then he says

And I'm so proud of the $5.2 trillion of increase in the stock market. Now if you look at the stock market, that's one element but then we have many other elements. The country, we took it over at 20 trillion. As you know, the last eight years they borrowed more than it did in the whole history of our country.So they borrowed more than $10 trillion. Right? And yet, we picked up $5.2 trillion just in the stock market. Possibly picked up the whole thing in terms of the first nine months. In terms of value.So, you could say in one sense, we are really increasing values and may be in the sense, we are reducing debt. But we are very honored by it and we are very, very happy by what's happening on Wall Street.

Wait what..........? The national debt is linked to the stock market performance? I learned in 7th grade finance that national debt doesn't decrease as the stock market increases. How would a business man ever think that? Not to mention the answer is a word scramble. He jumps from one topic to another without finishing or explaining a thought. What? We eliminated 10 trillion in debt just by 9 months of the stock market going up? That doesn't make sense!
And Hannity has no follow up question.....nice....I guess he doesn't find it important why the person running the country might think that. Great interview skills.

Moving on.... surly Trump was just a little nervous or had a brain fart. He knows how the government and economy work.

And what do you know, Hannity redeems himself by saying were going to talk about the economic plan in detail!! Yes! I want to hear about how this tax policy will work. This should be right up Trumps alley. He has talked about taxes for forever and in business he had to navigate them all the time. Can't get easier then this.

Let's read the response

And you know, when we first introduced it, and for years they talked about tax reform. I said, the problem with the word reform, nobody understands what it means. Because reform could mean you are going to raise taxes. This is the largest tax cut in the history of our country. It is incredible. It is going to put people to work. So right now, Sean, we are the highest taxed nation in the world. And we are going to be now down in the lower rung in terms of taxes. A family can get and a business can get, especially a subject, you know, you are doing different kinds of things with your businesses, some people run it individually. But you can get as much as a 40 percent tax reduction. Again, it's the largest tax reduction in the history of the country.

Okay okay, well democrats often call it reform because they want to raise taxes on the rich, but republicans have always wanted tax cuts. I guess still makes sense though, easy to understand. That was your big contribution? Changing the name tax reform to tax cut? and wait...
Largest tax cut? That's not true

The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget said it “very roughly” estimated a $2.2 trillion cost over 10 years. (That’s similar to the Tax Policy Center’s estimate of a $2.4 trillion cost over 10 years.)
“That would make this tax cut the 8th largest as a percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) since 1918 and the 4th largest in inflation-adjusted dollars,” CRFB wrote in an Oct. 25 blog post.

And the tax cut that passed was even less aggressive with costing a estimated 1.5 trillion over 10 years. So he just lied to us a lot. Well Obama lied sometimes during the Affordable Care Act, and Bush after 9/11. True true, so a fib like that can't hurt. It gets people energized right? Let's read some more.

How is it going to put more people to work? It isn't direct spending like infrastructure? I thought we were going in depth. Is there research indicating that companies if taxed less will hire more employers and raise wages vs taking the profits for themselves and shareholders? Oh, and another lie. The U.S isn't the highest taxed nation in the world. We are only in terms of statutory corporate rate, but that isn't the effective tax rate for corporations. Only the ones of the books that no company actually pays after the many deductions. Another lie....nice.

What on earth are those last three sentences?

Please read those out loud wherever you are, and if you understand the word scramble please convey what he was talking about in the comments.

So we have two answers. Lots of lies, lots of scrambled thoughts and unintelligible sentences. No idea or insight into how taxes, the economy, or government work, but Trumps nailing it. The crowd is going nuts. Hannity, not offering any refute of anything said thus far.

At this point in reading the transcript I honestly was like c'mon, this can't be real. Someone manufactured this. So I started watching the interview again and I heard everything wrong that he was saying, but it was so hard to keep track. His voice, the way he pauses, the inflection, the hand motion and the speed keeps it hard to focus on one ridiculous aspect and makes you miss a lot. With reading, there are no distractions and you get the real message.

If you are still reading this, comment squishy duck and I'll give you some up-votes.

Oh, Shaun with a little bit of a follow up saying "let's go through this". I like like it! He said detail right!? Heres Trumps chance!

We're going to drop actually if you look at it, because we have a zero bracket. Because a lot of people pay zero. So, we really have four and they had eight. So, it's really eight down to four. We are cutting it in half. And a lot are taxed below the $12,000 mark and $24,000 mark for families. They taxed at zero. After that it goes to 12 percent from 15 percent.And you know, the Democrats told a very terrible fib. They said that they read the brackets so that the brackets were inverted. And if you read it that way, that's not the way it goes. And we've been praised for the amount of money, the middle class, this is really what I'm looking for, for the middle class.

Who is taxed at zero?

Other then extremely wealthy people who can get and find tax reductions. Warren Buffet pays a lower percent then his secretary for fucks sake.

Less tax brackets, sure I guess that isn't inherently bad. I don't know the full implications of that but okay. And individuals who earn under $12,000 or families that earn under $24,000 won't be taxed at all!? Interesting, I don't really agree with that, but oh wait, just another lie! Oh, Donald, you got me there. Either you don't know your own tax code, or you purposefully lied hoping some of those in poverty falsely believe that and get on your side....great!

And again, what in the hell is he even saying in those last three sentences!? They are just thoughts randomly thrown together and spewed out. How could anyone hear or read that and say that is an intelligent person talking about a subject he knows very well. He's a businessman talking about taxes. He should be able to talk circles around someone with little financial experience, but a high-schooler can provide more economic and linguistic insight then the person running our country!

Deep breath.....

Is this what it means to be a good leader?

Not knowing how the economy and government function? Not able to form basic sentences and thoughts about a subject you should be a expert on? Not being challenged with any difficult question, yet you still sound like you showed up for a high school speech on taxes, yet never opened the tax code? blatantly lying to millions about what these taxes breaks mean for them and how they work? Is that why people like him? Because maybe they fell stupid when experts talk about complex issues. Maybe they are tired of the pompous attitude of politicians, scientists, scholars, and they just want them taken down a notch? I know that was what I first thought when I heard Trump was running. I saw some quick quips of him roasting other politicians. Haters coming out of the fricken wood work. I really don't know what goes through peoples minds when they read things like that. Those answers were something a townie gives at a bar after inebriation, not the president. We are better then this america.

I know I am bringing down the hammer, but occasionally Trump will say something I agree with. I can find a couple instances in this interview, but even then, he doesn't seem to even understand what he is saying. It's just a talking point and it appears as quickly as it disappears in his thought process.

Oh this somber note, I'll leave you with one more snippet from the interview. Where Trump talks about the NFL Anthem protests. Now whatever your opinion is of them, he claimed they are unpatriotic, and a shame to our country. Yet months earlier he mocked John McCain for being a ward hero that got caught during the Vietnam War, saying, "I like war heroes that don't get caught". The same man who dodged the draft with a docter note of bone spurs in his foot. When asked about that he couldn't even remeber which foot he had the bone spurs in (because he never had them, it was just a rich boy excuse to get out of the draft). He compared him getting through the 80's without any STD's his Vietnam, with an interview with David Stern.

Do you know what John McCain did? He could have gotten a medial note to avoid the draft too, but instead he went to the front lines and was captured. He spent years being beat tortured, and scared, but his dad and the U.S government sealed a agreement for his release. John McCain refused though, saying it would make the U.S. look weak and compromise their position.

The man had the opportunity to be released home after years of torture and he said no. He went back and was tortured more, watched his friends die and became permanently disabled, yet Donald Trump says he isn't a war hero or patriot. That's the kind of man Donald Trump is.

I don't agree with most of McCain policy decisions, but I damn sure respect him and honestly know he has the country's well being in mind

If you read that whole long post, I appreciate it. Love to hear your interpretation of the interview and maybe point out where I might have been wrong or let my bias get the best of me. I just ask you use your own thoughts. Thanks steemians, I think I will do some more of these transcript breakdowns.