I did some research and Trump has made this claim. But there's absolutely no proof it ever happened. No record with the first responders, the city, no indication of who was hired or any kind of receipt or bill for those he hired. Just a claim that he did this.
Now since some of us know the President is a pillar of honesty, they take his word for it. And then their narrative turns, in this election year, to "What was Joe Biden doing". I've looked and what I can assume is just that Joe Biden was doing what most of us were doing - processing, mourning, in shock.
Trump supporters say he was doing publicity shots - I also find no record of that. Trump claimed that thousands of NJ Arabs were celebrating on rooftops and that he saw this on television, however, that's been widely investigated and debunked.
These are just a couple of the 9/11 Trump myths, but they illustrate the will to exploit the public, that we are so familiar with. Thousands of lies told around this Presidency. Because the mythos goes, Democrats and Liberals hate Donald Trump and therefor try to discredit him, by claiming he lies. Even when completely debunked or unprovable - or even when video evidence that contradicts mistruths is provided, Trump and core Trump supporters call these attacks on the truth by "fake media".
In setting up themselves as the only "Speakers of Truth", Trump and the new Republicans are exercising propaganda of extreme proportion.
It smacks of George Orwell's Newspeak and Doublethink;
Doublethink: "The power of holding two contradictory beliefs in one's mind simultaneously, and accepting both of them... To tell deliberate lies while genuinely believing in them, to forget any fact that has become inconvenient, and then, when it becomes necessary again, to draw it back from oblivion for just as long as it is needed, to deny the existence of objective reality and all the while to take account of the reality which one denies—all this is indispensably necessary. Even in using the word doublethink it is necessary to exercise doublethink. For by using the word one admits that one is tampering with reality; by a fresh act of doublethink one erases this knowledge; and so on indefinitely, with the lie always one leap ahead of the truth."
Newspeak incorporates contradictions in thought - of Doublethink - "War is peace" and "Freedom is Slavery" and "Ignorance is Strength".
And so, we find Trump accusing his foes of doing things he's accused of doing. It has his administration and the Republican congress disguising political favors and tax breaks and giveaways as public assistance.
And certainly, they're not the only ones to do it. Back when George W. Bush was president he released stuff like the "Clear Skies Initiative" which appeared to improve EPA goals, but upon examination made them very easy to legislate over later on, providing relaxed standards now and kicking the hard standards that made up the numbers 25 years down the road, giving plenty of time to make and pass new legislation that eliminated any gain, without appearing to do so.
What's different is Trump claims are blatant. And anyone who puts them in the light of day gets attacked. Reporters' questions that ask things that show the president in a poor light get called out for "Bad Questions" and lose press passes. Right wing and alt-right sites pour out a constant stream of propaganda. Attempts to tell the truth are dismissed as Anti-Trump, Left Wing Extremist lies.
So how do we combat this?
Left wingers and moderates need to continue to tell the truth. No holes barred - unembellished, giving credit where due and describing wrongdoing and lying. Our words cannot contain exaggerations or mistruths. Because the evidence of wrongdoing, untruthful divisiveness and lying are clear. There is no need for propaganda from the left. The truth hurts this administration.
And it's clear that many understand the truth. It's also clear that many don't and won't in the face of this election, so it's important we get out and vote. And that our words from now, ring true in the future - it's the way we hold on to reality and bring our brothers and sisters who are currently swept up in this propaganda back.
It is how we show how cruel and inappropriate this pandemic response has been. It is how we help understand the need of healthcare for everyone (regardless of how it is implemented) is and how important public education is for our children. It's how we understand that it's reasonable to tax the wealthy a little more, how we educate on value of diversity and not ignore our differences, but value them, until such time as this is the norm and we fund social programs that help our population learn and grow to take advantage of the dream.
Integrity in our actions is ever more important. Just like MLK believed in Non-Violent protest (which eliminated any accusation of wrongdoing - and needs to be practiced today) our actions and words need to reflect the truth, to provide the true north. Hindsight can be 20/20 - but there has to be prominent truth in the rubble in order to be seen.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doublethink
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