AS I SEE IT COLUMN: O.J. and Trump – Two peas in a (disgusting) pod

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 21/04/2024 (425 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

O.J Simpson is dead. The NFL star running back, NCAA Heisman trophy winner, advertising pitch man, and movie star is no longer with us.

Oh, and he also happened to be the central figure in the 1994 murder trial of the century, when he was accused of brutally killing his ex-wife and her friend. If you believe in an afterlife, given the overwhelming evidence of his guilt it’s pretty safe to say it’s really hot where O.J. is right now.

Trump always makes everything about himself, and so he of course used the news of O.J.’s death to talk about himself. Here is his verbatim quote from his failing social media site.

“The great O.J. Simpson used to play football with me. Not many people know that because I don’t like to boast. He could never outrun me, though – have you ever seen blisters on my feet? No blisters. He used to say: ‘Sir, you are a great runner, probably the best there ever has been. Also, thank you, sir, for playing ball with a black man.’ He had tears in his eyes that day.”

There is a ton to unpack in Trump’s egomaniacal, wildly narcissistic statement.

“The great O.J. Simpson…” – O.J. was acquitted of the murders but during the trial it was revealed that he frequently emotionally, verbally and physically abused his wife. Look online and you’ll quickly find stomach-churning photos of her bruised face from O.J.’s punches. Police made nine visits to the Simpson home because his then wife called 911 for help. O.J. was arrested in 1989 and pleaded no contest to spousal abuse.

For the former president – who was recently found guilty in civil court of assaulting a woman – to call alleged murderer O.J. “great” is beyond disgusting, but hardly surprising. After all, Trump called Vladimir Putin a “genius” and “savvy” for starting the war in Ukraine, when the rest of the civilized, sane world recoiled in horror over the death and destruction Putin had wrought. Trump has said he got love letters from North Korea’s dictator. Even though Trump has a highly disturbing fondness for truly awful people, calling a wife beater “great” reveals just how damaged the former president is. He is a sick man.

“…I don’t like to boast.” – When I read that line to my mom she immediately burst into laughter. Trump constantly brags about winning golf tournaments, but only on his own courses. He has never finished in the top half of any normal tournament. He’s said he was the best baseball player the state of New York ever produced. For a man who pathologically compares himself to Elvis, Jesus Christ, Putin critic Alexi Navalny and Nelson Mandela to say he doesn’t like to boast, is laughably absurd.

“He (O.J.) could never outrun me…” – Trump can’t even walk a round of golf, so for him to suggest that he could ever outrun a star running back shows you just how delusional and deranged the former president’s rapidly fading mental state really is. Notice he says “never.” That means that the morbidly obese Trump thinks he was a faster runner than Simpson was at the peak of his football career. Biden – today – could literally run circles around Trump.

“…you are a great runner, probably the best there ever has been.” – This is how bad the rot in Trump’s addled mind is: he says out loud that he may have been the fastest runner that ever lived. Just think how damaged you must be as a person to: a) think that and b) say it publicly.

“…have you ever seen blisters on my feet?” – Not sure what he means here. Is he talking about the same feet when, during the Vietnam war, his daddy called in a favour and got a doctor to write a note so Donny could get five military deferments for supposedly having bone spurs? The feet that got you out of serving your country; those feet?

“He had tears in his eyes that day.” – Body language experts have said there are two “tells” when Trump is lying. After recording a mind-boggling 30,000 lies while has was a squatter in the White House, there is a large sample size to study. When the first president in American history to stand trial in a criminal court says people called him “sir” or that they started crying in his presence, you can bet the farm he is (once again) lying through his teeth.

O.J. Simpson and Donald J. Trump – two despicable, disgraceful peas in a pod.