Credibility Again: Donald Trump Cursed Africans, then Praised about Martin Luther King, Jr.

Donald Trump, White House Photo

Today, President Donald Trump gave a perfectly bland, entirely appropriate speech about Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., whose holiday we celebrate next Monday. Mr. Trump used the opportunity to sign a proclamation honoring King. But was it even remotely credible? Why or why not?

Here is an example of Mr. Trump's entirely appropriate comments:

"Today, we gather in the White House to honor the memory of a great American hero, the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr."

Also, like all good epideictic speakers, he brought up values by which we all should live:

"Dr. King’s faith and his love for humanity led him and so many other heroes to courageously stand up for civil rights of African Americans. Through his bravery and sacrifice, Dr. King opened the eyes and lifted the conscience of our nation. He stirred the hearts of our people to recognize the dignity written in every human soul."

Mr. Trump then asked Ben Carson, one of the few minority members of his cabinet, to offer some comments. Carson was more specific, but equally tasteful.

Yet, how many people will believe any of it? A few hours earlier, a story was released saying, on the basis of credible witnesses, that Mr. Trump had the day before told a meeting of several senators that African nations and Haiti were "sh!th@l@s" (may my sainted mother forgive me for using such a word) who should not be allowed to send immigrants to the United States. Mr. Trump at first did not seem to deny his comments, then hedged, then hedged some more. International outrage was mixed with support from Mr. Trump's usual supporters

What's going on here? Who knows? But here are some thoughts:

1. Some of Mr. Trump's supporters were obviously thrilled by his nasty, seemingly racist comment. My quick look at Twitter found many, many #MAGA tweeters defending Mr. Trump.

2. Mr. Trump's supporters know all about political correctness, and understand that he needs to say nice things about minorities even if he doesn't mean a word of it. Thus, they can dismiss his proclamation speech without a whimper. They can convince themselves that he was just trying to be appropriate.

3. Mainstream Republicans can think that Mr. Trump's proclamation speech represented the real Mr. Trump, while, in contrast, his supporters can think that his obscene comments represented the real President Trump. Very clever, really. Mr. Trump could establish opposite credibility with two opposite audiences.

But how long can a speaker play both sides of the same issue before losing all credibility? Who knows. Probably not forever. Time will tell. 

Aristotle said that a speaker's credibility arises from prior knowledge of the speaker's character. Mr. Trump's obscene comments gave people plenty of reason to doubt his credibility when he spoke about Dr. King.