Instead of seeing Trump for who he is, his supporters create an imaginary figure who does no wrong.
When former FBI Director James Comey's prepared congressional testimony hit the internet on Wednesday, President Donald Trump's supporters rejoiced. In the statement, Comey admitted that he told Trump on three separate occasions that Trump wasn't personally under investigation by the FBI in connection with potential Russian interference in the 2016 election.
This is a point Trump had made upon firing Comey in May, and this week Trump enthusiasts were happy to declare the president clear of any wrongdoing now that Comey had corroborated it. Yet this is an example of how far we've sunk – the U.S president is now getting credit for having managed not to lie to the American people.
Let the canonization process begin.
In fact, Comey's written and verbal testimony on Thursday would provide so very much more. In it, Comey accuses the President of the United States of trying to pressure him into an inappropriate relationship, demanding "loyalty" of the FBI director and urging him to shut down an active investigation.
To say that Comey's testimony "vindicates" Trump in any way ignores giant swaths of what the former FBI director actually said — it's like leaving the theater after seeing Wonder Woman and telling people it's a World War I documentary.
More:
https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2017/06/09/trump-supporters-concoct-their-own-comey-story-column/102635810/Much as Trump detractors have created an imaginary figure who can do no right.
