By Phil Huber, ADVANCE COLUMNIST
“This is Trump being Trump.”
That familiar excuse asks Americans to stop expecting the president to tell the truth—or answer for what he does. Falsehoods become exaggerations. Insults become jokes. Divisive statements prove he “tells it like it is.” Whatever he does, defenders explain it away.
But presidential conduct is not a personality quirk. Judge Donald Trump by what he says and does with the power entrusted to him.
His midterm speeches offer an opportunity. Put aside the cheering. Compare his claims with evidence. Consider whom he attacks—and what happens when words become presidential actions.
In Syracuse on October 9, Trump said he inherited “the worst inflation in American history” and reduced it to 1.8 percent. FactCheck.org found neither assertion true. Annual inflation was 3 percent when he returned to office and 3.7 percent in September. Even Biden’s 9.1 percent peak was not America’s worst.
These are not differences of opinion. They are checkable numbers.
In North Carolina, Trump said his tax law delivered “no tax on tips, no tax on overtime, no tax on Social Security.” It provided relief, not elimination of those taxes: limited deductions with restrictions and expiration dates. The provision for older Americans is an additional deduction—not repeal of taxation on Social Security benefits.
That distinction matters to household budgets. A president should explain a law, not replace its limits with applause lines.
The falsehoods are only part of the problem. So is portraying groups as threats.
USA Today reported that Trump accused Somali immigrants of having “destroyed” and “fleeced” Minnesota. Online, he urged Minnesotans to “fight back” against the Somali community, blaming it for “Violence, Murder, and Mayhem all over the State.”
Investigate wrongdoing. Prosecute crimes. But allegations against individuals do not establish an entire community’s guilt.
At an October Mississippi rally, Trump accused Democrats of promoting the “transgender mutilization of your children,” according to the Boston Globe. Americans can debate medical standards and sports rules without portraying transgender people as menaces or suggesting opponents want children harmed.
He also casts Democrats as enemies rather than fellow Americans.
At a June conference, Trump called Democrats “hardcore, godless Communists.” The Associated Press explained that this inaccurately conflates Democratic policies, including democratic socialism, with communism.
At his October 23 Florida rally, he called Democratic candidates “the most extreme anti-American radicals ever to seek office.”
During the 2024 campaign—not this month—Trump called Nancy Pelosi and Adam Schiff “the enemy from within.” Those earlier statements provide context for today’s labels.
Arguing that Democrats are wrong invites debate. Declaring them anti-American enemies encourages Americans to fear their neighbors.
Nor can we separate words from actions.
In Iowa this month, Trump again claimed Democrats stole the 2020 election. Biden won 306 electoral votes to Trump’s 232. Trump has never substantiated his allegation.
Returning to office, he granted sweeping clemency to January 6 defendants, including pardons for people who assaulted police officers. He commuted 14 others’ sentences, including leaders convicted of seditious conspiracy.
Here, rhetoric and power meet: continued election denial alongside presidential relief from punishment for people involved in the attack intended to overturn it.
What about his mental performance?
We should neither ignore the question nor pretend watching speeches qualifies us to diagnose him. False statements and confused explanations do not, by themselves, establish dementia.
They justify examining his command of facts and reasoning.
Trump has claimed a perfect cognitive-test score demonstrates “extreme intelligence.” Medical experts consulted by PolitiFact explained that the screening test he apparently described detects possible cognitive impairment; it does not measure exceptional intelligence.
We cannot determine whether a falsehood reflects calculation, misunderstanding or illness. These examples alone do not prove deterioration. We can assess accuracy, coherent explanations and whether decisions serve the public.
A medical diagnosis is not a prerequisite for presidential accountability.
Trump’s term runs until January 2029. Americans will continue living with his decisions and exercise of power. These midterms will help determine whether Congress provides oversight or continues making excuses.
Accountability also requires Congress to do its job, regardless of which party controls the White House. Oversight is not disloyalty. Asking for evidence is not persecution. Correcting a false statement is not an attack on voters who supported the speaker. Citizens should expect their representatives to investigate abuses, challenge unsupported claims and defend lawful limits on presidential authority. Otherwise, loyalty to one man replaces the obligations of public office and leaves everyone else bearing consequences.
The standard is not perfection. Every president makes mistakes. The standard is accuracy, correction, coherent explanations and responsibility for consequences.
Republicans who excuse his conduct should answer the same questions as everyone else: Are his claims true? Are his actions justified? Would they accept this behavior from a president of the other party?
“Trump being Trump” answers none of those questions.
It asks us to stop asking them.
***
Phil Huber is a retired Army Reserve colonel and former federal civil servant who writes about civic education, public accountability and national security. He lives in Fredericksburg
As usual, good points,
Also as usual, misses the mark.
The question for voters should not be what Republican politicians - federal, state, local and their supporters WILL do, but rather - what HAVE they done, supported, excused.
We put 18 year olds in uniforms and hand them a gun. We proudly kill 18 year olds if they are found guilty of a capital crime. (Happily ignoring how many capital convictions are later overturned - but that's a whole other issue).
So why do these, by definition, at least 18 year old - and often much, much older members of our society continually get graded on a curve?
Now granted, my worldview is much more limited.
More than a quarter century was spent locked up in a jail, I'm sad to say.
And I'm sure that gives me a more jaundiced view than some.
In that I was taught one of the best indicators of someone's current actions, or future actions, was their prior actions.
Didn't necessarily prove guilt, in and of itself, but it was guide of what they were capable of. And found guilty of, beyond a reasonable doubt.
That idea influenced me when developing probable cause, classification policies, standards of care, and assisting the courts on matters such as sentencing, parole, work release, probation.
Folks like Rob Wittman have shown that they would and did sit idly by, if not actively participate, (as is a concern raised by his own questionable trading practices) - in many of the outrages that you list, and a few you seem to have overlooked.
How many times have we seen Republican office holders play dumb when asked about another outrage done in their name?
This administration, not merely Trump, but this whole conspiracy of deliberate indifference and ignorance, has resulted in significant and reasonable suspicions of war crimes, including assassinating the leader of another nation, attacking civilian targets in non-military areas, and also on the high seas, including killing those civilians after their boats were not a threat, if they ever were.
Our treaties are worthless, as is our honor, as is our word. No one trusts us. No one should trust us. Enemy or friend.
What principle haven't they violated?
Graft, corruption, self-enrichment on a biblical scale.
Suppression of civil liberties - not only of those who are here "illegally" (which is an odd term for a workforce that has been intertwined in our economy for decades if not centuries as we continue to look the other way as it conveniences us), but also of each of us, as well.
NDA's and exclusion of any oversight. Loyalty oaths not to the Constitution, but to their party.
An open admission by them that whether we. their fellow citizens, receive help in times of crisis will depend upon how we vote? Of our own money?
Masked men allowed to kill, arrest, harass with impunity, - with the Supreme Court saying that it can be justified based upon the color of their skin or their appearance?
WTH.
On and on, from issues as great as our economy, lives, and taxes. To as petty as who appears at the Kennedy Center.
And by remaining Republican in the face of all that, and much, much more that has been both performed and promised against any of us not in their cult - is the proper question whether they promise to do different when you ask them 4 days before an election?
Or should it be, what did you do during the times leading up to these 4 days?
Promises are cheap.
Particularly from those who have shown by their former words, actions, and in this case, multiple criminal convictions and indictments, despite having untold weatlh and power to inhibit the administration of justice that an average criminal could only dream of having.
I'd say those actions give you a lot better guide. Not only of the one they have chosen as their leader, but as them as well.
If that 18 year old kid can be held accountable for his actions, I don't see why these folks get graded on a curve.