And the most glorious episodes do not always furnish us with the clearest discoveries of virtue or vice in men.  Sometimes a matter of less moment, an expression or a jest, informs us better of their characters and inclinations than the most famous sieges, the greatest armaments, or the bloodiest battles.”
—Plutarch, Alexander the Great

It’s in “The Church of Fake News” that President Donald Trump finally revenges himself upon his many enemies.

He walks down an aisle, reaches into his suit jacket pocket, pulls out a .45 automatic—which seems to have an endless magazine—and opens fire on: 

• Democratic Representative Adam Schiff, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee
• Former President Bill Clinton
• Democratic Representative Maxine Waters
• Utah United States Senator Mitt Romney
• Black Lives Matter
• Former Vice President Joe Biden
• Liberal activist George Soros
• Former Democratic Presidential Nominee Hillary Clinton
• Democratic Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and
• Former President Barack Obama. 

Nor does he spare his longtime “enemies” in the legitimate news media, such as:

• CNN
• The Washington Post 
• BBC
• ABC
• MSNBC Anchor Rachel Maddow
• The New York Times
• PBS
• NBC
• and Politico

Trump has, after all, slandered journalists as “the enemy of the American people.” And he has called news stories documenting his crimes and follies “fake news.”

Nor in the video is he limited to using a firearm.

• He lights the head of Vermont United States Senator Bernie Sanders on fire.
• He stabs to death the late Arizona Senator John McCain.
• He stabs TV personality Rosie O’Connell in the face. 

The clip ends with Trump driving a stake into the head of someone whose face bears the CNN logo. Then he stands and smiles as he looks around. 

This video carnage was made possible by TheGeekzTeam, which digitally placed Trump’s head over the main character (played by Colin Firth) in the 2015 spy thriller The Kingsman: The Secret Service as he shoots his way through a crowd of possessed churchgoers.

“The Trumpsman” was shown along with other videos at the Trump National Doral Miami resort as part of the American Priority Conference, held from October 10-12, 2019. 

It’s part of a growing genre of pro-Trump memes that routinely earn thousands of views on sites like YouTube and Twitter. Many superimpose the faces of Trump and his chief supporters slaughtering Democrats, liberal celebrities and/or members of the media.

Once The New York Times broke the story, the event’s organizer, Alex Phillips, sought to avoid responsibility for the showing. He hurriedly claimed that the “unauthorized video” was shown “in a side room.” 

“Content was submitted by third parties and was not associated with or endorsed by the conference in any official capacity,” Phillips told the Times.

“American Priority rejects all political violence and aims to promote a healthy dialogue about the preservation of free speech. This matter is under review.”

The organization issued a statement calling it “shocking” that the Times didn’t cover any of the sanctioned events at the conference.

In other words, public relations events that were meant to be seen by the press, as opposed to events that were not meant to be seen.

Yet this was only one of several Right-wing videos screened at the event. C.J. Ciaramella, a journalist for Reason magazine, filmed a room where these were being screened. 

Among the speakers at the conference:

• Republican Representative Matt Gaetz
• Donald Trump, Jr.
• Former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski
• Professional Right-wing dirty-trickster Roger Stone
• Former White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders
• NRA spokeswoman Dana Loesch

Reaction from the legitimate news media was immediate.

CNN: “The president and his family, the White House, and the Trump campaign need to denounce it immediately in the strongest possible terms. Anything less equates to a tacit endorsement of violence and should not be tolerated by anyone.” 

White House Correspondents Association: “All Americans should condemn this depiction of violence directed toward journalists and the President’s political opponents. We have previously told the President his rhetoric could incite violence. Now we call on him and everybody associated with this conference to denounce this video and affirm that violence has no place in our society.””

CBS News: “This video, and the rhetoric increasingly used against the media, puts journalists in danger, prevents open and honest debate about the issues, and undermines democracy.”

If Donald Trump had a history of truthfulness and humanity, his denouncing the video would prove highly believable.

But Trump has neither.  

An August 12, 2019 Washington Post story noted that, since taking office on January 20, 2017, Trump had made more than 12,000 false or misleading claims.

Among his lies: Accusing former President Barack Obama of illegally wiretapping him—without offering a shred of evidence to back up that accusation.

Even worse: On July 25, 2019, Trump tried to coerce the president of Ukraine to manufacture “evidence” to discredit former Vice President Joe Biden, his Democratic rival for the Presidency in 2020. And shortly after that revelation became public, he publicly invited China to “investigate the Bidens”—Biden and his son, Hunter, for the same reason.

So much for his trustworthiness. 

We’ll examine his reputation as a humanitarian in Part Two.