By all accounts, Trump is either a liar, has a horrible memory, has no clue what he is saying – much less doing – or he has a personal agenda.
NBC News reported this Wednesday about “Trump’s Obamacare Journey: From Total Repeal to ‘Be Careful.'”
NBC goes on to note that Trump has changed his stated position on Obamacare eight times since announcing his candidacy, writing that:
These recalculations and shifts aren’t unusual for Trump – he took 141 positions on 23 major issues during his run, and has taken 15 new stances on nine issues since being elected – but it is a particularly illustrative shift in the differences between the rhetoric of a candidate and a leader faced with the realities of governance.
**Note, for those of you interested, NBC News also reported on Wednesday a detailed accounting of “Every New Policy Stance Trump has Taken Since Election.”
Earlier today, Friday, CNN reported that “Trump’s transition team has signaled to congressional Republican leaders that his preference is to fund the border wall through the appropriations process as soon as April, according to House Republican officials.”
That means Trump has shifted positions again, now “asking Congress, not Mexico, to pay for border wall,” which brings to running total up to 16 new stances on nine issues since being elected.
In short, Trump seems to embody that old joke about how you can tell a lawyer is lying. The answer, predictably, is “his lips are moving.”
This brings us to the point of this article – the one thing Trump seems to have remained consistent on.
The title says it all in an NBC News report from this morning: “Trump Has Been Strikingly Consistent in Denying Russian Hacking Role.”
NBC News goes on to detail his eight denials that Russia had anything to do with the hack, beginning with his remark from the first presidential debate, Sept. 26, 2016:
I don’t think anybody knows it was Russia that broke into the DNC. [Hillary Clinton is] saying Russia, Russia, Russia, but I don’t — maybe it was. I mean, it could be Russia, but it could also be China. It could also be lots of other people. It also could be somebody sitting on their bed that weighs 400 pounds, OK?
Noting that Trump is set to receive an intelligence briefing today on the Russian hack, NBC News writes that: “You can count on maybe one hand the issues where Trump has been very consistent. So his constant position here — at least before today’s briefing — is striking.”
We will leave it up to you to determine why you think Trump has almost singularly been consistent on this one issue above all other. But the answer seems rather obvious to us.
It is also worth mentioning that a spokesman for former CIA director James Woolsey announced yesterday that he has left the Donald Trump presidential transition team.
“Effective immediately, Ambassador Woolsey is no longer a senior advisor to President-elect Trump or the transition. He wishes the president-elect and his administration great success in their time in office,” Woolsey spokesman Jonathan Franks said in a statement.
As NBC News reported late yesterday, “Woolsey said on CNN that his decision to leave was not influenced by Trump’s comments about Russia or the interference allegations,” but one has to wonder.
NBC News added that:
The resignation comes as Trump has been in a war of words with U.S. intelligence agencies over assessments that the Russian government was likely involved in a covert campaign to attempt to interfere in the U.S. election.
A source close to Woolsey told NBC News the former CIA chief felt increasingly uncomfortable with the Trump transition’s decision-making on matters of intelligence, particularly amid a report the incoming administration is considering restructuring certain intelligence agencies.
Be sure to use the comments section, below, to share your thoughts on Trump’s lies, his inconsistencies – with the exception of his repeated denials regarding the Russian hack, and former CIA director Woolsey’s resignation from the Trump transition team.
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