U.S. President Donald Trump aims to create 鈥渢heatrics of the spectacle鈥� and it鈥檚 not going to get any better, says a cultural studies professor and prolific author.
Henry Giroux, a Rhode Island native who teaches at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ont., and penned 鈥淎merica at War with Itself,鈥� says he believes it will be increasingly difficult to understand what the president is doing or why.
Trump intentionally sows an environment of 鈥渟hock,鈥� 鈥渟ensationalism鈥� and 鈥渃onfusion鈥� where it鈥檚 unclear what is true or what is happening, Giroux told 麻豆影视 Channel Monday.
鈥淗e鈥檚 more concerned about throwing information out that causes uncertainty and chaos鈥� that drives the press to have to chase stories about what he means rather than asking serious questions about what he鈥檚 doing, Giroux said.
Trump鈥檚 allegation via Twitter on the weekend that former president Barack Obama ordered Trump鈥檚 phones to be wiretapped has been rejected by both FBI director James Comey and former National Intelligence director James Clapper, though the House and Senate intelligence committees say they will honour the president鈥檚 request to investigate.
Giroux, who spent his life studying and teaching in the United States before coming to McMaster in 2004, says Trump鈥檚 charge has no credibility because he has 鈥渕ade a career about lying about Barack Obama.鈥�
And if there was anything to back Trump鈥檚 claim, the president holds the power to declassify information.
鈥淗e could easily, if there is anything that he knows, he could simply declassify this and make it public and to provide some sort of evidence, which he has not done.鈥�
Giroux says the allegations are part of Trump鈥檚 much-used tactic to create 鈥渕assive diversion鈥� from issues of substance, such as the controversies surrounding Attorney General Jeff Sessions and the administration鈥檚 connections to Russia.
Giroux, whose book explores the role of hate in the presidential campaign, says the newly revised travel ban announced Monday, which takes the target list down to six nations, is not a toning down of Trump鈥檚 anti-immigration stance.
鈥淪imply because he eliminates Iraq or modifies the wait time, I mean this is still an act of massive discrimination against an entire religious group.鈥�
