DONALD TRUMP

Huffington Post - President Joe Biden didn’t have much to say on Wednesday when he was asked if he or President-elect Donald Trump deserved more credit for the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas.

“Is that a joke?” he replied, turning back and smiling on his way out of a press conference.

The deal to exchange hostages held in Gaza for Israel’s release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners was reported on Wednesday, prompting Trump to declare on social media that he was responsible.

CNN - As the transition of power in Washington nears its end, Trump continues to see majority approval (55%) for his handling of it, with most Americans (56%) expecting him to do a good job in his second term, the survey finds. Ahead of Trump’s first term in office, the public was less positive. Only 40% of Americans approved of his handling of the presidential transition at this point in 2017, while 48% expected him to do a good job as president. But Trump’s more positive ratings now still lag behind other recent presidents when they entered office.

Opinions of Trump personally are now closely split between favorable (46%) and unfavorable (48%) — his best numbers since just after the 2016 presidential election, when 47% viewed him favorably and 50% unfavorably. History suggests, however, that this honeymoon period will wear off, with prior presidents experiencing a drop in positive sentiment throughout their terms.

On the other hand:  

National Memo - As Donald Trump prepares to take the oath of office for a second time, he claims to have a “massive” mandate to enact his destructive agenda. But new polling shows that’s far from the truth.A NPR/PBS News/Marist College poll released Wednesday shows that just 44 percent of Americans view Trump favorably, while 49 percent view him unfavorably. That’s nearly identical to the 45 percent approval rating Trump has in Civiqs’ tracking poll.The fact that Trump is viewed unfavorably before he even takes office is a warning sign for his tenure. The start of a presidential term is usually when a president is at their high-water mark of approval.

Sam Smith – Donald Trump is not an eccentric character bursting into our environment. As a society, we have been slowly moving for decades toward a community that accepts many of his values. Back in the early 1950s, when I was in high school, one of my teachers was already telling us of the dangers of the hyperbolic values of advertising and public relations that were increasingly gaining strength and acceptance.

In part because the purveyors of these values were central to the success of media, there was little analysis or criticism from mainstream journalism. And because there was so little analysis or criticism, lies and exaggeration became an increasing part of culture, including politics. According to one analysis,  by the end of his first presidential term, Trump had accumulated 30,573 untruths or about 21 false claims a day.

And a public that has been accepting the falsehoods of advertising and public relations for decades easily accepted such manifestations coming from Trump.

The important thing is that as bad as Trump personally is, he rose thanks to our increasing acceptance of exaggeration from innumerable public figures and firms. And even getting rid of Trump, comforting as that would be, is only an early step in getting back to reality.