On Monday, as millions of Americans put on their eclipse glasses to witness the rarity of a near total solar eclipse, President Donald Trump stood with his family on a White House balcony and stared directly at an eclipsing sun. The story is undoubtedly amusing; an aide apparently screamed “don’t look” as our President flouted the advice of doctors and scientists everywhere and looked straight at the sun. But as entertaining as it may be to mock President Trump for his glaring stupidity, Trump’s actions reveal some truly disturbing truths about him.
Trump’s disregard, and indeed disdain, for experts has become legendary among both his supporters and critics, albeit for opposite reasons. This most recent event only confirms what we already knew. Virtually every astronomer, optician, and doctor recommended (if not commanded) that people wore solar eclipse glasses if they looked at a partial eclipse, and virtually every American heeded their warning. But, Trump decided to contradict this sound advise and look into the sun with nothing more than a squint as protection. While we already we’re aware of Trump’s propensity for denying expert advise, it’s worth reexamining the consequences of this. Climate change is the most obvious (and debatably the most important) example. 97% of climate scientists think that climate change is real and that humans play in a role in causing it. But, Trump has claimed that climate change is a hoax created by the Chinese, and that we should therefore increase our coal production. In order to achieve this goal he has pulled out of the Paris Climate Agreement. All of this adds up to a bad deal for the United States and the Earth, all because the President refuses to accept the advice of experts. And while looking at the eclipse is only a small representation of this, what it represents should terrify all sensible people.
Trump also displays a belief that he somehow transcends the rules that everyone else is bound by. From violating political norms to breaking laws, Trump seems to relish breaking the rules that every other person takes pains to follow. He seems to believe that he is invulnerable and immune, not only to the laws of man, but also to those of nature. He demonstrated this on Monday. By staring at the sun, Trump was showing his dominance over the rules, showing his belief that he cannot be broken. This is quite common for Trump. Trump has shown evidence of this through his business career, campaign, and time in office. When Trump’s casino, Trump Castle, in Atlantic City was going bankrupt, his father gave him an under-the-table several million dollar loan in the form of a massive chip purchase, which was declared an illegal loan under New Jersey law. Trump was given a relatively minor $65,000 fine. There is substantial evidence that Trump’s staff broke political norms, if not laws, during the general election campaign and transition period through their unorthodox, to say the least, relationship with the Kremlin. And, during the early months of Trump’s presidency, it is possible that Trump committed obstruction of justice, and at the very least defied traditional standards of political behavior. One could go on and on. Based on this evidence, Trump is either extraordinarily stupid, which while possible seems unlikely given the amount of evidence against him, or he is perfectly comfortable with brazenly violating the rules of the world in which we live. Again, this is truly terrifying. The government cannot be above law, and, if Trump thinks above the rules, of science or of government, then he cannot be trusted to govern.
Trump’s deeply troubling contrarian nature is also demonstrated by this event. Trump seems to have an urge to buck convention. And, while it is true that what is popular is sometimes not right, sometimes it is. A rational person would evaluate the pros and cons of a particular action, but Trump just seems to enjoy doing the opposite of what everyone says. Former Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci said it best when he said, “The media’s expecting him to do something; he sometimes does the exact opposite.” This unpredictability is something that Trump supporters love about him. But it’s dangerous. Whose to say that Trump won’t veto a bill or issue an executive order just because it’s unpredictable, just because it’s contrarian.
Trump looking at the eclipse demonstrated some of his truly terrifying characteristics. Yes, it was funny. Yes, it was stupid. But it wasn’t just a mistake, it wasn’t an anomaly. It fits into a consistent pattern of behavior in which Trump rejects the help of experts, violates the rules of normal human behavior, and is wildly unpredictable. This is not a recipe for a successful presidency, it is a recipe for catastrophe. Looking at an eclipse is a small thing, imagine what he will do when a big thing happens.
Liberal Talking Head 