If you’ve been scratching your head at the very strange denials, then acceptance, then denials of Russian interference in the presidential election of 2016 by the guy who eventually became president, you’re not alone. Donald Trump’s bizarre performance in Helsinki last weekend underscored what has been likely the hardest part of the President’s behavior for his fans and supporters to countenance: His siding with a foreign country that used to be, especially among conservatives, considered “the enemy.”
The thing is, it’s not really a mystery why Trump would be quick to defend against the accusations if you can see your way clear to viewing those accusations the way Trump must be — as an assertion that he didn’t win the election fair and square. Looked at in terms of Trump’s native language — WINNING — it doesn’t sound like people are talking about Russia at all.
To Trump, they’re talking about him.
But according to a New York Times piece published late on Wednesday, it turns out that it’s less about people calling him a loser and more about people calling him a cheater. That may seem like a distinction without a difference, but the context of the Times piece makes it very clear: Trump knew without a shadow of a doubt before he ever took a seat at the Resolute Desk that Russia had been and continued to be aggressively attacking the United States through a cyber-network of spies and hackers.
From the Times:
Two weeks before his inauguration, Donald J. Trump was shown highly classified intelligence indicating that President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia had personally ordered complex cyberattacks to sway the 2016 American election. The evidence included texts and emails from Russian military officers and information gleaned from a top-secret source close to Mr. Putin, who had described to the C.I.A. how the Kremlin decided to execute its campaign of hacking and disinformation. [emphasis added]”
Not only has Trump since denied that this was the case, often pointing at other possible bad actors who “may have” carried out cyberattacks, but in the 18-½ months since his initial briefing, Trump has shifted from simply being defensive on his own behalf to publicly, overtly defending Vladimir Putin, the man he was told was directly responsible.
Our conclusion — really the only conclusion one can make — is that Trump is not necessarily even being defensive. He is simply denying evidence the way a child with chocolate on his face denies having eaten cake. He knows what happened, he knows he benefited from it, and whether or not he ever personally arranged to get Russia’s help in winning the election — and evidence points to at least his campaign team having done so, if not him personally and possibly in person — he is “colluding” right now, before our very eyes.
Featured image via composite
