Trump’s rail on ‘fake news’ defines irony

Does it still count as irony if the speaker doesn’t realize he has been ironic? For example, if the President-elect suggests that he is the victim of fake news, does he not remember when he told the world that he had dispatched a “team of investigators” to prove the “illegitimacy” of President Barack Obama’s birth certificate?

He suggested that the results (which he hadn’t even received yet) would be “earth-shattering.” In 2011, he said, “I have people that have been studying it and they cannot believe what they’re finding.” Apparently, neither could anyone else, since it didn’t exist; he never released any of these findings; in fact, under pressure, Trump finally admitted the validity of Obama’s birth certificate.

Now, that same person decries “fake news” even though he was responsible (and continues to be) for such news through his Twitter account. Trump supporters, you must be so proud. Isn’t that ironic? Or, just pathetic?

This story was originally published January 19, 2017 at 3:53 PM with the headline "Trump’s rail on ‘fake news’ defines irony."