Gary Franks

When President Donald Trump says he “may do” something, it also means he “may not” do something. He covers all his bases so no one can be surprised.

Trump realizes that people will believe what they want to believe. Because of that fact, Trump gives messages that some people can embrace and others can dislike. He taps into people’s worst and best inclinations. His magic is that he never apologizes for either action, leaving people to embrace what they want to embrace in Trump’s often dualist messages.

Then, when things go wrong (as they often do), Trump offers a distraction or abruptly changes subject.

His sycophant supporters often say in his defense that Trump is just one “funny man.” After all, you remember when he “joked” about spreading manure over a crowd of people marching in “No Kings” rallies. You will also recall when he “joked” by defacing Democratic leaders of Congress. I know you “laughed” at Trump’s “joke” depicting former President Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama as apes. And wasn’t it just hilarious to see Trump “joke” about being Jesus Christ?

None of these things are funny. In reality his “jokes” are dog whistles — coded messages that appear innocent to the general public but send targeted messages to particular groups.

What is worse is that instead of apologizing quickly, Trump refuses and then “doubles down” by trying to gaslight us. Such behavior is why America should be worried and Congress or his Cabinet should intervene.

Here is one example: Trump taps into racist sentiments by depicting the Obamas as apes. It is hard to be more racist than that. But you will see what you want to see. Yes, Trump did it, but he also took it down. He never apologizes. So his racist supporters feel “good.” And because Trump quickly took it down, his non-racist supporters feel “good” too. Genius or deranged?

Here is another example: Trump posts a video that shows him pouring poop from a plane over a crowd of protesters at a “No Kings” rally. Here too, he did not apologize. For those who hate liberals or progressives, Trump made you feel good. For those who believe that everyone has a right to protest, they felt better after Trump quickly removed the post.

And this is the granddaddy of them all: Trump said in response to the controversial image of him as Christ (which he also quickly took down) that he “was portraying a doctor.” Really? And in true Trumpian form, as mentioned above, he never apologized. Oh well.

In many ways Trump is the anti-norms figure of the 21 st Century. He is quite simply anti-Congress, anti-Supreme Court, anti-democracy, anti-harmony, anti-Democrats, anti-anyone outside of his circle of wealthy associates, anti-helping the poor, anti-Pope, anti-NATO, anti-EU, and anti-ally (he has estranged many of our formerly strong allies like Canada). And all this on top of his blasphemous depiction of himself as Jesus Christ.

Trump is not the Antichrist, however. Yes, he opposed Pope Leo, and he did substitute his persona for Christ, but neither would make him the Antichrist — that is a character we all hope never to see.

In the Bible the Antichrist is a figure prophesied to oppose Jesus Christ and substitute himself as a false savior before the Second Coming. Representing the ultimate adversary, this figure is characterized as a deceiver who denies both the Father and the Son, and is often identified with the “man of lawlessness” (2 Thess. 2:3) and the “beast” (Rev. 13:1).

But why would anyone want to pick a fight with the leader of the Catholic church? In the eyes of Catholics — a group that is 1.4 billion strong — the Papacy has existed for about 2,000 years following the death of Jesus Christ. That is an extraordinarily long-lasting institution. Why fight the leader of most Christians in the world? No president until Trump saw that as a “good idea.”

And, to add insult to injury, the Trump administration has cut federal grants to the Catholic church. These funds are vital help to people, and the move to cut them only makes our government look worse. It begs the question: Why? Is it because Pope Leo seeks peace and love for the world? How dare he have that as his goal, I say facetiously.

If we were sincerely concerned about an erratic leadership that “could harm America,” we should look at a nation that has truly killed thousands of Americans, that hates America, that daily works toward hurting America, and actually of late has nuclear weapons (unlike Iran that does not and never has had nuclear weapons). That nation — the one we should be focused on — is North Korea.

It is a nation that threatens an entire region filled with American allies. It is a nation that we fought and “tied” in a war in the 1950s, which created North and South Korea.

Do not get me wrong, bombing North Korea would not be prudent either. Preemptive strikes are a very questionable tactic unless the evidence of necessity is overwhelming. In the case of Iran, here too, the threat level was not enough to warrant strikes, according to a top government official responsible for observing and evaluating Iran’s capabilities. That official ultimately resigned over his strong disagreement with Trump’s assessment that Iran was an imminent threat to America.

Our current regime-change and unnecessary war is as much of an error as a golfer who hits the ball into the woods. Unfortunately, instead of “taking a drop,” or if playing with friends, a mulligan, you decide to “play it out.” Unless you are a very good golfer or simply lucky, it is highly likely that you will hit another tree.

We went into Iran to stop the regime’s nuclear program (a release of sanctioned money would probably do that — money talks). Now, instead, we are fighting to open up the Strait of Hormuz through which 20% of the world’s oil flows.

Mr. President, focus on the game, limit your troubles, do not fight for your ego, or trust that you will be lucky. Nearly all nations are not helping us in this fight and many more want us to hurt ourselves fighting this senseless war as we have turned friendly nations into “anti-friendly nations,” or at best, nations that are ambivalent toward America.

Spending heavily on our military will increase our $39 trillion national debt and increasing the cost of energy will make the affordability situation even worse for Americans. Trump vowed “America First,” but like “no regime change and no new wars,” he is just breaking another campaign promise.

Gary Franks served three terms as a congressman from Connecticut’s 5th District. He was the first Black conservative elected to Congress and first Black Republican elected to the House in nearly 60 years. Host: Podcast “We Speak Frankly” www.garyfranksphilanthropy.org