Trump is blaming everybody but himself for the shutdown he caused.
Exactly 30 days after he proclaimed he would be "proud" to shut down the federal government if he didn't get funding for his border wall, Trump is now massively backpedaling.
"The buck stops with everybody," Trump told reporters outside the White House on Thursday, responding to a question about how to resolve the government shutdown that he created.
That statement is a perversion of a slogan from President Harry S. Truman, who had a sign on his desk in the White House that said, "The Buck Stops Here."
In his farewell address to America in 1953, Truman said, "The President — whoever he is — has to decide. He can't pass the buck to anybody. No one else can do the deciding for him. That's his job."
Trump, on the other hand, is passing the buck to everybody except himself.
Just a month ago, though, Trump was singing a completely different tune.
In his infamously embarrassing public conversation with Democratic leaders Sen. Chuck Schumer and Rep. Nancy Pelosi, Trump said, "I'll tell you what, I am proud to shut down the government for border security, Chuck. Because the people of this country don’t want criminals and people that have lots of problems — and drugs — pouring into our country."
He added, "So I will take the mantle. I will be the one to shut it down. I’m not going to blame you for it. The last time you shut it down, it didn’t work. I will take the mantle of shutting it down."
As usual, Trump was lying.
The shutdown is unpopular and totally unnecessary. Trump is single-handedly causing it because he's obsessed with spending billions of U.S. taxpayer dollars to erect a useless wall on the southern border, after promising for years that Mexico would pay for the boondoggle.
Now Trump is facing serious backlash as thousands of federal workers go unpaid and trash piles up from coast to coast at America's national parks.
Democrats have been trying to reopen the government. The only obstacle is Trump, and the Republicans who enable his tantrums.
Trump also claimed Thursday that Democrats in Congress "could solve this problem in literally 15 minutes." But on Wednesday, he stormed out of a meeting with Democratic leaders after 30 minutes because he wasn't immediately given everything he wanted.
With his cowardly blame-shifting, Trump has shown once again how out of step he is with the traditions embraced by previous presidents like Truman. When the going gets tough, Trump runs away with his tail between his legs.
Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.
