16) Trump Can’t Accept Responsibility for Mistakes or Wrongs

Reason #16 to Vote Blue on Nov 5

Harry Truman is well remembered for a little sign he kept on his desk in the oval office: “The Buck Stops Here.” He understood the meaning and importance of accountability. A good leader does not coverup mistakes with distractions or lies. A good leader, can admit and apologize for mistakes and self-correct.

TRUMAN:

“The greatest part of the President’s job is to make decisions–big ones and small ones, dozens of them almost every day. … The President, whoever he is, has to decide. He can’t pass the buck to anybody. No one else can do the deciding for him. That’s his job.”

TRUMP:

“I think apologizing’s a great thing, but you have to be wrong. I will absolutely apologize, sometime in the hopefully distant future, if I’m ever wrong.”

–Fri Sep 11, 2015 (Tonight Show)

“In the hopefully distant future if I’m ever wrong.”

Trump often uses the word “sorry” but not in normal sense of the word. The following is from his former Twitter account:

Sorry folks, but Donald Trump is far richer and much better looking than dopey @mcuban! –March 19, 2013
Sorry losers and haters, but my I.Q. is one of the highest -and you all know it! Please don’t feel so stupid or insecure, it’s not your fault. –May 8 2013
Sorry, @Rosie is a mentally sick woman, a bully, a dummy and, above all, a loser. Other than that she is just wonderful! –Dec 8 2014
Sorry folks, but Bernie Sanders is exhausted, just can’t go on any longer. He is trying to dismiss the new e-mails and DNC disrespect. SAD! –Jul 24 2016

THINGS TRUMP HAS GOTTEN WRONG, WILL NOT ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR, and WILL NOT APOLOGIZE FOR.

The 2020 Election Lie

Nothing has dominated the attention of Donald Trump like the results of the 2020 Election. Despite being told by his own staff that he had lost, that all accusations of fraud had been thoroughly investigated, and all legal avenues had failed to be resolved in his favor, he still insisted, against advice, that he knew better. And so he has continued to stir discontent and undermine people’s faith in the electoral process needlessly. For this, he remains adamant and not contrite.

Selections From “Reason # 2 – Bullying Georgia’s Secretary of State“

Trump never accepted responsibility or apologized for trying to force the Secretary of State in Georgia to change the vote count so that he could win the State for the 2020 election. Hopefully, Georgia will pursue the criminal charges and justice will be done.
Trump never accepted responsibility or apologized to Georgia election worker Ruby Freeman for the threats to her life caused by himself and his lawyer, Rudy Guliani, falsely labeling her as an example of someone “stealing the election.” Hopefully Freeman, who won her lawsuit against Guliani, can actually collect from the now disbarred former attorney.

Selections From “Reason # 13 – Bullying (in General)”

He never accepted responsibility or apologized for his mocking of NY Times reporter Serge Kovaleski.
He never accepted responsibility or apologized for continually using cheap-shot nicknames when referring to at least 56 different public figures. On the contrary, he continues to try diminishing these people and others, every month by this crude communication method.
[Choosing one insult among the many:] He never accepted responsibility or apologized to Republican Sen. Ted Cruz for saying his wife was ugly or for suggesting his father was involved in the Kennedy assassination. It is like he has never grown up past Middle School.
He never accepted responsibility or apologized for encouraging violent behavior at his rallies. He continues to condone and encourage it despite being a victim of violence himself.

Selections From “Reason # 14 – Lying About Business Success“

He never accepted responsibility or apologized for using false financial data to borrow money at lower rates. No, he used the excuse that “everyone else does it.” No, only the seedy ones do that. So now he must pay a court fine. Is he remorseful? Of course not.
He never accepted responsibility or apologized to the victims of his scam businesses like “Trump University” -no he considers them losers.
He never accepted responsibility or apologized for failing to pay numerous contractors he hired to do construction projects on his casinos, hotels, and golf clubs. Not at all. Instead, he uses his lawyers to counter-sue to slow their efforts to be paid.

Selections From “Reason # 15 – Disrespect and Misuse of the Military“

He never accepted responsibility or apologized for mocking Senator John McCain for being a prisoner of war in Vietnam. In fact, he still says nonsensically. “It’s bad if you get captured.”
He never accepted responsibility or apologized to members of the armed forces for calling them “suckers” and “losers.”

The above list is just a token list of a very long list of wrongs for which he takes no responsibility. There is a long list of people he has insulted very intentionally, hoping to malign. None have received apologies. In some cases he denies having made an insult that is nevertheless on a video.

There is a reason for this unusual extreme of behavior. It is part and parcel of his narcissistic personality disorder (a mental illness). One of the characteristics of a narcissist is the total inability to see themselves making any mistake; everything they do they believe must be perfect and if you call attention to something wrong, then it will be denied and you will be attacked. Of course, this should not excuse his behavior, but it is a very big reason for concern. This will be discussed more in a separate “reason” for not voting for Trump.

Some people excuse or even admire many of these behaviors as “tough” or “worldly-wise.” I see it more seriously. A lot of the work of the Presidency involves creating trust and respect: with colleagues in the White House and Cabinet Heads, with Congressional leaders, with business leaders, with numerous public and private organizations, and with other international leaders and heads of governments. It is about leadership.