The Trump celebration, an unexpected showcase for the hypocrisy of the global left
From the Vatican to the deep state, these are the most unusual and hypocritical responses to Trump's first measures.
The second inauguration of Donald Trump finally came, unprecedentedly held inside the Capitol due to the merciless cold. The ceremony and the events leading up to it yielded so much journalistic material that it may take weeks for the media to pick apart every detail. Political rearrangements, dances of all kinds, ridiculous gestures, long faces and unexpected winks, so much happened in so few hours.
To no one's surprise, the brand new U.S. president delivered a speech that seemed conciliatory... for a few short minutes. Then he went back to being the defiant Trump the world knew during the protracted comeback campaign that began four years ago. In his speech, he trashed his opponents and promised a "Golden Age." Donald Trump was sworn in as the 47th president of the United States, making several announcements that hint at the outline of what his second stint at the helm of the White House will be like.
Highlights of his first hours in the Oval Office include his orders to combat the flow of illegal immigration and woke policies, as well as an aggressive geopolitical outlook aimed at recovering the country's leadership role in the face of a much more complex, bellicose and unstable world than the one he left behind after his first presidency.
Trump signed many, many executive orders. Not only is he within his rights, the damage done to the country and the world by his predecessor's administration make them a priority and urgent. But the dizzying day of statements and actions nevertheless left a cataract of reactions that deserve to be highlighted.
1. Papal hypocrisy
A few hours before Trump was sworn in as the 47th president, Pope Francis called the plans to carry out mass deportations a "disgrace." It should be remembered that this is the same pope who said Trump was not a Christian during the 2016 presidential campaign, in the wake of the Republican's promise to build a border wall.
Bergoglio is a supporter of open borders policies everywhere but in the Vatican, which he protects with an iron fist, imposing harsh prison sentences and penalties of 25,000 euros (roughly $26,000) for those who illegally enter its territory. Those who are labeled by Francis' administration as "illegal" will not be allowed to visit the territory for a period of 15 years.
Pope Francis' definition of "illegal" is: "Introduction by violence or deception into the territory of the Vatican City State." The Bergoglio administration maintains that the crime is aggravated and the penalty is increased if the crime is committed with the use of firearms, corrosive substances or by several people.
The pope who imposes such restrictive rules for his territory has not batted an eye in judging that it is wrong if it is done in someone else's territory. So when referring to the policies Trump plans to implement, he said: "That's not the way to do it! That's not the way to solve things."
2. The hypocrisy of the Chinese Communist Party
The government of Xi Jinping was dismayed by Trump's withdrawal from the climate agreement. Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun argued, "Climate change is a common challenge faced by all of humanity, and no country can remain unaffected or solve the problem on its own."
What is remarkable is that for decades, China has surpassed the United States in gas emissions and is the world's largest annual emitter of greenhouse gases. In fact, over long periods, China emits more gases than the rest of the globe combined.
Faced with the evidence that it is China, through the colonization of international bodies, that is the power cynically sounding the climate alarm to harm Western growth, Trump announced the United States' withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agreement: "I’m immediately withdrawing from the unfair, one-sided Paris Climate Accord rip-off."
China also accused Trump of bullying due to the reinstatement of Cuba on the list of state sponsors of terrorism. Guo Jiakun said the list compiled by Washington "fully reveals the hegemonic, high-handed and bullying face of the United States."
Jiakun also noted that China will continue to support the World Health Organization after Trump left the agency, saying it should be strengthened, not weakened.
3. Democrats' hypocrisy on the bust of Winston Churchill
Donald Trump didn't wait a minute to put the bust of Winston Churchill back on a table in the Oval Office, in clear homage to the man whose courage drove the fight against Nazism.
But it is important to remember that the bronze bust, a gift from the British government to George Bush in 2001, became a symbol of what presidents thought of the British leader, because of how it has been systematically relocated depending on whether it was a Democratic or Republican administration.
Obama moved it to a table outside the White House Treaty Room in 2008, and it was returned to the Oval Office by Trump in 2017, then President Joe Biden removed it in 2021 so he wouldn't have to see it. Now, good old Winston is back where he deserves to be.
4. Federal work from home, a symbol of the oversized government
President Trump has ordered federal workers back to the office, after years of remote work that began during the COVID biennium. For an administration that wants to downsize the federal government, finding out which employees are committed to their jobs may make it easier to downsize.
When Musk and Ramaswamy were appointed to head the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), they claimed that not only were fewer federal employees needed, but that they should be required to come to the office five days a week; estimating that this move would generate a wave of voluntary retirements. Many news reports have noted that the federal government complex in Washington, D.C., is "a ghost town" and that federal buildings are almost empty.
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5. The hypocrisy of progressivism vs. digital royalty
The placement of the heads of digital companies during the ceremony was the talk of the press and social media. From Zuckerberg's leering to the pulpy charms of Bezos' wife, to the progressive hysteria at feeling betrayed by those they considered, until a few days ago, unconditional allies of their insane dogmas.
The woke world seems to have been served two axioms that transcend time and space in recent hours: "business is business" and "power commands and organizes."
The president's organization allowed the CEOs of technology companies to sit wherever they felt comfortable in the rotunda, and the seating was a surprise. In prime spots were Sundar Pichai, Elon Musk, Tim Cook, Mark Zuckerberg and Jeff Bezos rubbing shoulders with Kristi Noem and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Where has the past where these millionaires were pawns of Democratic power gone? Rachel Maddow, haunted by images of the ceremony, wondered in front of the cameras, "How is this happening?"
A few days earlier, Sam Altman exposed a letter he had received from Elizabeth Warren offended by Altman's $1 million donation to Trump's inaugural fund.
According to Warren, it was a favor-buying. Altman noted that the donation was in his personal capacity but exposed the senator's hypocrisy by pointing out that he had never received such a letter when he had contributed to Democratic events and politicians.
Jackpot: The left's hypocrisy over Elon's gesture
Another of the left's displays of cabal hypocrisy came when the owner of X, during a speech, made a gesture by putting his hand over his heart and extending it in front of him. The global left synchronized to claim it was a Nazi salute.
When Musk was making the gesture, he was offering his heart to Trump supporters. But the high priests of woke culture are not interested in facts, only in their ridiculous narratives.
These are, paradoxically, the same journalists, politicians and "influencers" who have failed to criticize and condemn antisemitic attacks against Israel and against Jews around the world. These are the same people who have shamelessly displayed their antisemitism since Oct. 7, 2023. In other words, they are people who fail to see the criminal antisemitism in progroms, threatening marches, calls for boycotts, rapes, beatings and attacks against Jews, turn out to be experts on imaginary antisemitic gestures. This twisted attitude not only speaks of the hypocrisy of the left, it also speaks of the imaginary world in which they live.
It is expected that we will see many more displays of woke hypocrisy in the coming days. The defenders of democracy have endorsed the nepotism of pre-emptive pardons, for example. Trump and his administration will have to armor themselves against a radicalized left that is not resigned to losing control of public discourse and the progressive narrative with which they branded totalitarian policies on a global scale in the last four years.
In the meantime, watching them expose their hypocrisy blatantly and shamelessly does not cease to be an amusing spectacle.
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