Donald Trump has convinced millions that the lengthy Mueller investigation produced no evidence of collusion between the 2016 Trump campaign and Russia, or of obstruction into the investigation by Trump himself. He accomplished this deft sleight-of-hand by tweeting “NO OBSTRUCTION! NO COLLUSION!” with the ardency of a lab rat requesting cocaine pellets.
In fact, endlessly repeating the same lie is a hallmark of Trumpism—and it’s about the only evidence we have that Trump is capable of mounting a disciplined response to anything. So the fact that The New York Times and The Washington Post both won Pulitzer Prizes for their deep dives into the Russia collusion story has remained a thorn in Trump’s wee greasy paw for some time now.
He’s whined about it endlessly, going so far as to write a letter to the interim administrator of the Pulitzer demanding that the awards be rescinded. Well, the Pulitzer Prize Board just completed a review of those prizes, and suffice to say, the flying monkeys in Trump’s head are flinging straw in pretty much every direction right about now, because the board has upheld its original decision.
CNBC:
The board made that decision after two separate, independent reviews found that the award-winning reporting on Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential contest between Trump and Hillary Clinton stood up to scrutiny.
“No passages or headlines, contentions or assertions in any of the winning submissions were discredited by facts that emerged subsequent to the conferral of the prizes,” the Pulitzer board said in a press release.
Wait, so “NO OBSTRUCTION! NO COLLUSION!” was just a … lie? But Donald Trump always tells the truth. He said so himself!
In fact, the Mueller report, which Robert Mueller unequivocally stated did not exonerate Trump, cited at least 10 instances in which Trump likely committed obstruction of justice. In addition, the report detailed “multiple links between Trump Campaign officials and individuals tied to the Russian government.” Further, a subsequent bipartisan Senate report firmly established collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia, noting that former Trump Campaign Manager Paul Manafort shared internal polling data with Russian intelligence officer Konstantin Kilimnik.
But those Pulitzers put the lie to Trump’s meticulously crafted “NO OBSTRUCTION! NO COLLUSION!” mantra, and so Trump had to at least pretend to challenge them. Unfortunately for him, the Pulitzer Board still has access to Google.
The Washington Post:
Trump has long chafed at any suggestion that his surprising electoral victory in 2016 was aided by the Russian government, or that his campaign had acted in concert with Russian operatives seeking his election over Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. He repeatedly called investigative efforts — including by special counsel Robert S. Mueller III — a “witch hunt,” and the focus on it as “Russia, Russia, Russia.”
Of course, Trump responded to this news with his usual aplomb (namely, like a howler monkey smuggling moist paper bags full of bath salts in his colon).
"Instead of acting with integrity and providing transparency, the Pulitzer Board is running cover for the biggest reporting failure in modern history: the fake Russia Russia Russia collusion hoax. Why would The Washington Post or The New York Times ever want to admit their obvious mistakes and come clean when their false reporting is being guarded, and awarded, by the Pulitzer Prize, which at one point actually meant something? These outlets should hand back their prizes without notification from Pulitzer, which would be the honorable thing to do. The only way The New York Times and The Washington Post should get a possible Pulitzer Prize would be in a new category—disinformation, for helping to perpetrate a false story created and peddled by Crooked Hillary Clinton, the DNC, and certain lowlife Democrats."
Maybe Trump is just mad he never won a Pulitzer. After all, it must be tough to know literally everything there is to know about windmill cancer and never get the recognition you deserve.
Check out Aldous J. Pennyfarthing’s four-volume Trump-trashing compendium, including the finale, Goodbye, Asshat: 101 Farewell Letters to Donald Trump, at this link. Or, if you prefer a test drive, you can download the epilogue to Goodbye, Asshat for the low, low price of FREE.
