Deductive Reasoning - Trump Style
So, now that he’s officially taken up residence in the White House, Trump has unsurprisingly stopped making up excuses for why he will not release his tax returns and flatly stated that he’s not going to do it. As usual, he trotted out Satan's hand maiden, Kellyanne Conway to do the heavy lifting. Gone was the pretense that, as per his tweet of May 11, 2016, he will release his taxes following the completion of the audit that he claims (but has never proven) he is undergoing. Instead, Conway brazenly insisted that the reason Trump would be reneging on his pledge was because the “people didn’t care”. And how does Conway know that people don’t care? Well... because “they voted for him” of course.
There’s so much wrong here that it’s almost difficult to know where to begin...
First of all, even if we are to give Trump the benefit of the doubt and assume he is telling the truth about being under audit, there’s no law preventing him from releasing his taxes. Also, it would have been a simple matter for him to offer proof that he was in fact telling the truth about the being under audit. The fact that he has not done that doesn’t inspire much confidence in the veracity of his claims. There is also his documented history of telling self serving and bald-faced lies while on the campaign trail, so...
Second, it is entirely possible that at least some voters support was predicated upon his promise to release his tax returns when his audit (remember, we’re giving him the benefit of the doubt) was complete. Provided one was sufficiently credulous as to believe that he would make good on this promise when he had already told multiple lies about this issue, I suppose it’s possible to view his pledge as a demonstration that he believed he had nothing to hide. By going back on his word and claiming that his breaking his promise is the will of the people, he has abandoned all pretence that that is the case. Anyone still unable to see a suspicious pattern in his actions must own some swamp land in Florida.
Third, Conway’s statement that the voter’s “don’t care” about this issue is so demonstrably false and easily refuted as to be contemptible. In order to buy what she’s selling, you would have to be some combination of deluded, disengaged, or just too lazy to bother knowing you are being lied to. Of course this need not concern Trump. His supporters have proven themselves nearly immune to wild assertions that run counter to well established facts. I keep wondering when they will get tired of cheering for this small fraction of a person who daily insults their intelligence with his conduct and his claims.
Finally, Conway seemingly needs a refresher in the basics of logic. Her argument goes something like this: Trump didn’t release his taxes; the people elected Trump; therefore the people don't care if Trump releases his taxes. And if you can’t spot the fallacies in that line of reasoning, well then, congratulations! You’re a Trump voter!
But of course that’s not completely true. The consensus is so overwhelmingly counter to the lies of Kellyanne Conway that even 49% of the people who support Trump believe that he should release his taxes...
