By Terry Manning
So many things make sense to me now. So many things that have made zero sense in the time spanning both Trump administrations.
But now I get it.
He simply does not care. About anything.
I am hesitant to concede much credit to conservative author and commentator Tucker Carlson, but an excerpt I saw recently from an interview he gave to National Public Radio’s show Newsmakers offers needed revelation.
When NPR’s Steve Inskeep asked Carlson about his concerns over the ill-conceived and worse-managed (in my opinion) war with Iran, Carlson divulged he had shared his views with the president and got an unexpected response.
“I said to (President Donald) Trump, you know, four days before the war started, if you do this, you know, the United States will be kicked out of the Gulf. The American Empire will begin to collapse. Your legacy will be destroyed, along with party. And a lot of people are going to die,” Carlson said.
Trump’s reply?
According to Carlson, “He looked at me and said, ‘Yes, you’re right. But in the end, we all die anyway, so it doesn’t matter.’ That’s exactly what he said. ‘In the end, we all die anyway.’ And I said to him, shocked, ‘But what about our kids, and our grandkids, and our country?’ And he goes, ‘Ugh!”
For clarification, Trump’s “ugh” as Carlson uttered it was not a sign of repulsion, but of dismissal.
You know that sound. It’s the same sound Trump supporters make when you confront them with the numbers that show how badly he’s run the country’s economy into the ground. Or how miserably he’s squandered decades of diplomatic efforts to keep America at the high end of the world order.
“Ugh! There you go again with your facts and logic! You must be some kinda libtard! Kyuk kyuk kyuk!”
But seriously, “We all die anyway” is not a message I want to hear from the leader of the nation I call home. It’s not a mindset I want from someone who has access to the nuclear codes.
Carlson never uses the words nihilist or nihilism in the interview, but what else can be gathered from what he says? Merriam-Webster defines nihilism as “a viewpoint that traditional values and beliefs are unfounded and that existence is senseless and useless.” A nihilist is “an advocate of nihilism.”
A president who’s a nihilist might do things that reflect their belief nothing he (or she) does matters in the long run. Things such as appointing a vaccine opponent Secretary of Health and Human Services.
Or watching idly as that secretary oversees rollbacks of regulations and oversight that have kept our air, water and food supplies safe and prevented the outbreak of widespread illness.
Or appointing a businesswoman as Secretary of Education whose fortune came from professional wrestling with the singular mandate of eliminating her department.
Or mocking the faith of the people who follow him who call themselves Christians by pretending to share that faith.
Or destroying alliances with our nation’s allies while pursuing buddy deals with authoritarians that benefit his and his children’s fortunes.
Or building a private police force to stomp all over the civil liberties of immigrants to this country — and a frightening number of brown-skinned citizens, too.
Or slapping his name on every hallowed piece of concrete in our nation’s capital in hopes we won’t have the stomach to pay to have it removed after he’s gone from office.
“We all die anyway.”
It’s not that Trump is wrong, because we all will die sooner or later. Preferably later, and after a healthy prosperous life.
But a person who believes there is nothing worth caring about in this life and nothing worth worrying about when this life is ended won’t care one whit about making his life a mad pursuit of filthy lucre and consigning the rest of us to a living hell.
Which is why Carlson’s description rings true to me.
Trump doesn’t care. About anything. Or anyone.
Except for himself.
Terry E. Manning is a Clemson graduate and worked for 20 years as a journalist. He can be reached at teemanning@gmail.com.