Trump Labels Democrats “Terrorist-Supporting” in Sycophantic Poll

I’m old enough to remember when presidents didn’t create bizarre sycophantic approval polls after their speeches.

Here, let me help you out in case the images give you trouble:

Official Presidential Address Approval Poll

Q: How would you rate President Trump’s Address?

— Historic
— Great
— Good
— Other

Can literally no one in the Trump campaign use capitalization correctly?

More seriously, though, there’s no way to choose a negative rating. If you didn’t like Trump’s address, your only option is to select “other.” This is reminiscent of dictatorial regimes where presidents get 99% of the vote—almost like there was no other option.

Q: Who do you think is most fit to serve as Commander-in-Chief of the United States?

— President Trump
— A terrorist-apologist Democrat

Can you even imagine if Obama had tried something like this? This is utterly absurd—and is also a reminder of how broken Congress has become under Mitch McConnell. If you’re not for us, you’re a terrorist traitor not fit to live. Only here, it’s the president of the United States labeling literally every single Democrat a “terrorist-apologist.” Out loud and in public.

How are you supposed to fill out this poll if you don’t think Trump is fit, but you also don’t think Democrats are terrorist apologists? You can’t. But then, my guess is that this isn’t supposed to be an actual poll. It seems more about ego stroking.

Q: Do you believe President Trump did the right thing by eliminating Iran’s Terrorist-in-Chief, Qassem Soleimani?

— Yes
— No

I’m kind of surprised this was a simple “yes” or “no,” and not “yes, President Trump is an American hero” and “no, I love terrorists.” That said, the question is still misleading. It labels Soleimani “Iran’s Terrorist-in-Chief” with capitalization that suggests that that was his title. It wasn’t. Those critical of Trump’s actions point out that Soleimani was an Iranian major general, and that we don’t usually assassinate sovereign nation’s military officials when we’re not at war with them.

You wouldn’t get any sense of this debate from the way this question is framed. But then, the point is not to inform, or to solicit informed opinions. The point is to create leading gotcha questions that solidify the base and give Trump adoring, fawning, positive feedback (something Trump seems to need in the same way others need air or water). Oh—and also to grow Trump’s email list. The poll finishes by asking for the survey taker’s name, email, and zip code, both growing Trump’s email list and forestalling anyone who isn’t a Trump supporter from taking the poll if they don’t want to end up on said list.

So that’s lovely.

I’m utterly baffled that our president can act like this and so many people can just act like it’s normal—like there aren’t a dozen signs that something is very wrong with him. It’s utterly absurd. And dangerous.

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