In the children’s story “The Emperor Has No Clothes.” Everyone in the kingdom is afraid to tell the Emperor he’s naked. Instead, they compliment how beautiful his garments are. During a procession through the city, none of the townspeople said a word until a young child blurted out the Emperor was naked. The Emperor realized he’d been tricked by the weavers who had pretended to make him magic garments. Even knowing he was naked, the Emperor went along with the ruse, as did the rest of his kingdom.
I watched a Trump press conference yesterday, during which he exposed his nakedness, and everyone was afraid to say so. Not nude (that’s a visual I don’t want in my head), but without the slightest bit of mental acuity. Trump rambled, and he raved; everything he’d ever accomplished, whether he actually had or not, was the best in history. Anyone who ever opposed him should not have been allowed.
He had a teleprompter but couldn’t stay on topic. Everything on the screen sparked a new idea, which was automatically so much better than what was written that he had to expound. He went on rants about windmills causing mass bird deaths, cancer, and whale groundings. He blamed Joe Biden for low water pressure, saying it caused people to run their dishwashers and washing machines four times to get things clean. People had to stand in their showers ten times as long.
The day after the anniversary of January 6th, he said it was members of Hezbollah, the Lebanon-based Islamic militant group, who were present at the January 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol and not his own acolytes. When he finished waxing poetic about how wonderful things would be in America upon his return to the White House, he turned his lens to the rest of the world.
Trump threatened to take over the Panama Canal, not ruling out the use of military force. He said the same of Greenland and Canada. His version of Manifest Destiny seemed as simple as if America needed it or wanted something; it should be ours for the taking. While former President Jimmy Carter’s body was lying in state in neighboring Georgia, Trump twice criticized Carter for having sold the Panama Canal and for his handling of the Iranian hostage situation. However, he did call him “a good man.” Carter literally wasn’t in his grave yet but Trump couldn’t help himself. Trump said if the hostages held by Hamas weren’t released by his installment, “All hell will break loose, and it won’t be good for anybody!”
Trump cast doubt based on nothing on Denmark’s right to possess Greenland. I tried to make sense of the following statement but could not.
“People really don’t even know if Denmark has any legal right to it, but if they do, they should give it up, because we need it for national security," said Trump. "If Denmark wants to get to a conclusion, but nobody knows if they even have any right title or interest, the people are going to probably vote for independence or to come into the United States. But if they did, if they did do that, then I would tariff Denmark at a very high level.”
Trump turned his sights on Canada, suggesting we get rid of the invisible line separating Canada and the United States. He’s previously suggested making Canada the 51st state, using “economic force.”
“That would really be something you get rid of that artificially drawn line, and you take a look at what that looks like, and it would also be much better for national security," he said. "Don’t forget, we basically protect Canada.”
While Emperor Trump preens before the cameras, no one that matters is willing to say he’s metaphorically wearing no clothes. His party controls the Senate, the House of Representatives, and the ideologically, Supreme Court. None of them dare speak out like the child with the Emperor. A few Republicans once had the nerve immediately after the January 6, 2021 insurrection, but now they marvel at Emperor Trump’s robes, knowing but afraid to say there’s nothing there. It would be bad if he were only senile, but he’s evil and wants to build his legacy on the persecution of others. The list grows longer to where even Denmark is a shithole country.
The media used to be the last line of defense, but they are now cowing. ABC paid $15 million in a settlement because they weren’t willing to stand by having called Trump a rapist, as if inserting his fingers inside an unwilling woman’s vagina is anything but. Social media has bowed down, with Meta contributing $1 million towards Trump’s inauguration and Elon Musk’s X becoming an arm of the Trump propaganda machine. Media firms are afraid of being sued or falling ratings. A Washington Post cartoonist quit because the publication refused to carry a cartoon of owner Jeff Bezos on bended knee before Trump.
It isn’t enough that what remains of left-wing media keeps screaming about the lunacy of the words coming out of Trump’s mouth if no one on the other side is willing to say so. There were many times he could have been stopped, but they refused. Trump’s been impeached twice, but the Senate would not convict him. He’s been saved from appearances before federal courts and will soon be sentenced for 34 felonies in the State of New York but not go to jail. The Georgia case for election interference will likely never go to trial.
There is admittedly some risk in coming forward. Republicans who said what they’d seen, like Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger, were cast out of the Republican kingdom. We don’t know if anything later happened to the little boy who said the Emperor had no clothes. He was likely silenced and never dared say it again. I wish to be on the record saying Emperor Trump has no clothes. Hopefully, it won’t come to American troops rolling into Panama, Greenland, or Canada, for others to speak.
This article originally appeared on Medium and is edited and republished with author's permission. Read more of William Spivey's work on Medium.