If he weren’t such a jerk, this would almost be sad
by digby
I’m pretty sure that all he thinks about is himself. Literally. It’s the only thing his sad, twisted mind is capable of doing.
In his upcoming memoir, newly appointed Smithsonian Secretary Lonnie G. Bunch IIIdescribes the private tour he gave President Trump of the National Museum of African American History and Culture, recalling that Trump’s reaction to the Dutch role in the global slave trade was, “You know, they love me in the Netherlands.”
Shortly before Trump took office in 2017, his administration asked to visit the newly opened museum, according to Bunch’s upcoming memoir, “A Fool’s Errand: Creating the National Museum of African American History and Culture in the Age of Bush, Obama and Trump.” Bunch was the museum’s founding director from 2005 until June, when he became the Smithsonian’s secretary.
The incoming president wanted to come on the holiday commemorating the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., according to the memoir. The administration also asked that the museum be closed to the public during the visit. “The notion that we could shut out visitors on the first King holiday since the opening of the museum was not something I could accept,” Bunch writes. Another day was chosen.
Among those who joined Trump were Ben Carson, a retired neurosurgeon who is featured in the museum and who had been nominated to lead the Department of Housing and Urban Development, Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) and King’s niece Alveda King. Bunch recalls hoping the visit “would contribute to a broader understanding of race relations in America. I am ever the optimist.”
Before the president-elect arrived, his aides told Bunch that Trump “was in a foul mood and that he did not want to see anything ‘difficult,’ ” Bunch writes. Nevertheless, Bunch started the tour in the history galleries, which begin with the global slave trade.
“It was not my job to make the rough edges of history smooth, even for the president,” he writes.
Trump greeted him warmly and expressed his wife’s enjoyment of a tour she had with Sara Netanyahu, wife of the Israeli prime minister, according to Bunch. Then they went into the galleries.
“The president paused in front of the exhibit that discussed the role of the Dutch in the slave trade,” Bunch writes. “As he pondered the label I felt that maybe he was paying attention to the work of the museum. He quickly proved me wrong. As he turned from the display he said to me, ‘You know, they love me in the Netherlands.’ All I could say was let’s continue walking.”
“There is little I remember about the rest of the hour we spent together. I was so disappointed in his response to one of the greatest crimes against humanity in history,” he continues. “Here was a chance to broaden the views and the understanding of the incoming president and I had been less successful than I had expected.”
He has absolutely no interest in broadening his views and understanding. He’s a stable genius:
He said in a series of interviews that he does not need to read extensively because he reaches the right decisions “with very little knowledge other than the knowledge I [already] had, plus the words ‘common sense,’ because I have a lot of common sense and I have a lot of business ability.”
Trump said he is skeptical of experts because “they can’t see the forest for the trees.” He believes that when he makes decisions, people see that he instinctively knows the right thing to do: “A lot of people said, ‘Man, he was more accurate than guys who have studied it all the time.’ ”
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