[This weblog entry builds on and expands "When Politicians State 'I Am' or 'I Am Not' Something" of Jan. 16, 2014.]
It's a handy rule-of-thumb that when a politician – usually in a press conference, where he's annoyed repeatedly with the same question about his judgment – announces that he is or is not something, well, he is that thing.
Richard Nixon set the gold standard in 1973 when he announced, "I'm not a crook," which the Watergate scandal then established he exactly was. Now, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the White House deputy press secretary, referring to Donald Trump, kept this tradition alive when she yesterday refuted James Comey's Senate testimony by stating, "I can definitively say the president is not a liar."
 Nixon solemnly declaring "I'm not a crook." |
In the 44 years from not a crook to not a liar, a number of other politicians have inadvertently acknowledged their faults by using the same or similar words. Here's a sampling of their denials, in chronological order:
- "I did not have sexual relations with that woman": Bill Clinton, lying in January 1998 about his sexual relations with "that woman," Monica Lewinsky.
- "I am not an ideologue": Barack Obama in January 2010, denying what he precisely is.
- "I'm not a witch": Christine O'Donnell, Republican candidate for senator in Delaware, speaking in October 2010. She would seem to be the exception to the pattern.
- "I'm not the emperor of the United States": Barack Obama in February 2013, suggesting what he wants to be.
- "I don't think we're stupid": U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, discussing the P5+1's indeed stupid Joint Plan of Action with Iran in November 2013, and referring to the Obama administration as a whole.
- "I am not a bully": New Jersey's Governor Chris Christie, responding to revelations that his staff had used arch-bullying tactics.
- "Je suis social-démocrate" ("I am a social democrat"): President François Hollande, precisely as he announced a series of anti-socialist spending and tax cuts.
- "I don't really even need George Kennan right now": Barack Obama discussing his flawed and failed grand strategy which was very much in need of help.
- "I'm not a bully" announced Donald Trump, the leading Republican presidential candidate, when that term precisely describes who he is.
- "No, I was not being held hostage. No, I was not sitting up there thinking 'Oh my God, what have I done?' I wasn't upset, I wasn't angry, I wasn't despondent": Chris Christie on his weird appearance behind Donald Trump on Mar. 1, 2016, as the latter crowed about his Super Tuesday victories.
 "His were the eyes of a man who has gazed into the abyss, and the abyss gazed back." |
- "I'm not ranting and raving": Donald Trump, the new U.S. president, stated this at the 47-minute point of a 77-minute news conference in which he precisely ranted and raved.
- "I was not involved in any criminal action": U.S. Congressman Duncan Hunter (Republican of California) referring to the credit card for his political campaign being misused for such expenses as flying a pet rabbit cross-country, registering his daughters in an Irish dance competition, video games for his son, oral surgery, Disneyland, a family trip to Italy, repairs to a garage door, and purchases at grocery stores and at a surf & skate shop.
So, when a politician denies he is something, you can count on his being that thing.
UPDATES
- I am not an "American traitor": Chelsea Manning, who betrayed her country by releasing 700,000 classified documents. (September 17, 2017)
- I am "really smart," "a very stable genius," an "excellent student," and "one of the best business people": U.S. President Donald Trump, responding to Michael Wolff's book Fire and Fury, which questions his intelligence and mental stability. (January 6, 2018)
- "I'm an honest person": White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders, explaining away her inaccurate information about Trump not dictating a statement concerning the Russian connection. (June 5, 2018)
- "As the President has said and we've stated many times, he did nothing wrong": Sanders again, this time speaking after one of Trump's close associates was found guilty and the other pleaded guilty and also accused the president of engaging in a crime. (August 23, 2018)
- "I'm not trying to buy the election": Mike Bloomberg denying that his spending over $344 million, with untold more ahead, amounts to buying the presidency of the United States. (February 12, 2020)
- "I am not a dictator": Jovenel Moïse, who precisely was the dictator of Haiti. (July 7. 2021)
- "This is manifestly not Saigon": U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on the accuracy of comparing the fall of Kabul in 2021 with the fall of Saigon in 1975. (August 15, 2021)
- "I have never been a criminal": Ehud Olmert, who was convicted of criminal activity. (March 15, 2022)
- "The real question is whether I'm still an effective representative for 40 million Californians, and the record shows that I am": Dianne Feinstein, 88, responding to accounts that her memory has deteriorated and she is mentally unfit to serve as U.S. senator from California. (April 15, 2022)
- "I am not bluffing": Vladimir Putin on his threats of using nuclear weapons in Russia's war against Ukraine. (September 21, 2022)
- "I'm not a dictator." Donald Trump (December 7, 2023)
