Sir, – Donald Trump's disingenuous and dishonest behaviour was depressingly on display once again during his "Make America Great Again" rally in Phoenix, Arizona ("'We're building that wall': Protests at Trump's Arizona rally", News, August 23rd).
In a laughable attempt to take the moral high ground away from his many critics, he rounded on the “fake news” media for misrepresenting his initial comments, at the press conference in New Jersey, about the violence in Charlottesville.
He claimed in Phoenix that what he had said, on August 12th, was: “We condemn in the strongest possible terms this egregious display of hatred, bigotry and violence.” What he had actually said, at the Bedminster golf club, was: “We condemn in the strongest possible terms this egregious display of hatred, bigotry and violence on many sides, on many sides.”
His omission of the words “on many sides, on many sides” is, of course, crucial.
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President Trump is a natural-born demagogue. The truth means nothing to him. It only gets in the way of his grasp on power.
He has blatantly misrepresented his own comments in an attempt to accuse his critics of misrepresentation. If the situation were not so serious, it would almost be funny. However, as with so many other self-styled “strong men” leaders from history, I fear this story is not going to end well, and possibly for us all. – Yours, etc,
JOE McCARTHY,
Arbour Hill, Dublin 7.