It’s time for Trump’s report card
President Trump is getting his first report card today on his 80th day in office.
By the way, I’m not grading him on a curve.
Here goes!
Effective Communications (Reading, Writing and Oral) Grade D-
Here’s why.
Trump scores poorly in the areas of “Comprehends Fiction,” and “Reads orally with fluency.”
After he reads questionable news stories, in universally discredited news sources, he posts them on Twitter as if they’re fact-based.
In many cases, they are not.
It’s clear that he fails to “Express Written Ideas Coherently and Clearly,” because his Twitter rants are usually incoherent, and sometimes, even childlike.
Whenever Trump makes use of teleprompters, his speeches are cringeworthy, because of his unnatural speech patterns that make him sound like he’s reading the ingredients of a can of soup.
And when he’s ever at a loss for words, he resorts to his old standby – he employs the word “disaster,” as a catch-all for anything (or anybody) he doesn’t like.
Mathematics (Computation and Estimation, Measurement, and Compares two sets of Objects; more fewer, equal) Grade F
Here’s why.
Trump’s “computation and estimation,” and his “measurement” deficiencies were on full view the day following his inauguration, when he claimed he’d had the biggest inaugural event in history.
He was wrong.
His repeated false claims that he’d won the election by a “landslide,” indicates that he should work on how he “Compares two sets of objects (more, fewer and equal).”
He not only hadn’t won by a landslide, his electoral college margin of victory, when you “compare (any) two sets of objects,” was very small.
Social science (Economics, History and Countries and Cultures) Grade C-
Here’s why.
Trump does seem to have a very good sense of “Economics.”
His own.
Making use of public money for personal trips to Mar-A-Lago, not so much.
Plus, he’s under persistent scrutiny over his refusal to release his tax filings, and his questionable pledge to stay at arm’s length from his many business dealings.
“History” isn’t Trump’s strong suit either.
He can’t even remember what he said yesterday, when he says what he says today.
But more than that, he has forgotten his own sordid, birther “history,” and his frequent rantings about President Obama’s golfing, while he’s gone golfing more than Obama ever did during the early days of his presidency.
Trump’s lack of knowledge of “countries and cultures” hasn’t proven to be a positive during his early presidency, either.
He’s quickly found ways to insult the leaders of Germany, Mexico and Australia, while he maintains his ignorance of Islamic and Hispanic Cultures.
Performance results (Legislative agenda) Grade D
Here’s why.
Oh, Trump’s vow to make major changes on his first days in office, was destroyed when he’d done none of those things by his second day in office.
He’s not signed anything of significance that would make good on his “Legislative agenda,” yet.
True, Trump has been busily signing executive orders. But none of those were sent to him by Congress.
He did sign two Muslim bans that still haven’t banned a single Muslim.
He vigorously backed a repeal and replacement of Obamacare, that went up in flames.
Of course, there’s that “big, beautiful wall,” that, supposedly, “Mexico will pay for.”
But Mexico has vowed not to pay for it. And it’s still not clear if Congress will.
Citizenship (Exhibits Self-control, Shows Respect for Others, Displays Positive Attitudes Toward Learning) Grade F
Here’s why.
When he engages in his frequent early-morning Twitter-storms, it’s wholly apparent that he doesn’t “Exhibit Self-control,” or that he doesn’t “Show respect for others,” while he refuses to “Display positive attitudes toward learning.”
In short, he proves that his lack of self-control, and his disrespect for anybody with whom he disagrees, is the mark of a president who’s in need of remedial citizenship training.
That won’t happen.
He’s too busy telling everybody how important he is to the future of a country that, for now, doesn’t seem to care much for his lack of leadership qualities.
Cumulative (Grade Point Average) D-
And I’m being generous here.
Edward A. Owens is a three-time Emmy Award winner and 20-year veteran of television news. E-mail him at freedoms@bellatlantic.net