HE may only be half-Scottish but according to one of his supporters, President Donald Trump is the living embodiment of the man regarded by many as the greatest of all Scottish heroes, Sir William Wallace.
In an impassioned tribute which was going viral on Sunday, a hirsute American supporter of Trump made the comparison on a video broadcast by the Irish Independent following the protests in Washington DC on Saturday.
“President Trump,” he said, “I’m here for you and I’m going to the end.
“I will never cease fighting for you, God bless you sir.
“Ever seen the movie Braveheart? Donald Trump is our William Wallace.
“And even if they steal this election away from him, he’s left behind him a highly mobilised army of Judeo-Christian conservatives, and we will never stop fighting.”
You can see the rant for yourself at https://www.independent.ie/videos/trump-is-our-william-wallace-trump-protesters-and-counter-protesters-clash-in-washington-39748895.html
The gentleman’s comparison was no doubt well intended, but he was probably not aware of Wallace’s history.
He won the Battle of Stirling Bridge with Sir Andrew Murray or de Moray in September 1297, but lasted only a year as Guardian of Scotland after leading the Scottish army to defeat at the Battle of Falkirk.
Wallace resigned as Guardian and went into exile but was captured in 1305 and suffered an excruciating death after a show trial.
He was hanged until nearly strangled then emasculated and eviscerated before being beheaded and quartered.
Heaven forfend that such a fate would meet President Trump, but yesterday saw the incumbent of the White House still claiming that he won the election earlier this month.
Rather as if England’s King Edward II retreated to London in 1314 and claimed that he won the Battle of Bannockburn, Trump is continuing various lawsuits alleging electoral fraud, even though his own National Security Advisor, Robert O’Brien, says Joe Biden has won.
O’Brien said: “If there is a new administration, they deserve some time to come in and implement their policies.
“We may have policy disagreements, but look, if the Biden-Harris ticket is determined to be the winner – and obviously things look that way now – we’ll have a very professional transition from the National Security Council.
“The great thing is this is the United States of America. We’ve passed the baton and had peaceful, successful transitions, even in the most contentious periods.”
There has never been a president like Donald Trump, however, and according to Bloomberg News, his head of the General Services Administration, Emily Murphy, has so far declined to recognise Biden as the president-elect, holding back millions of dollars in funding, secure communications channels and access to key government officials in charge of the coronavirus response .
Yesterday afternoon, even some of his staunches supporters in the Republic Party were astounded by Trump’s latest forays on his favourite medium, Twitter.
He tweeted: “The Radical Left Democrats, working with their partner, the Fake News Media, are trying to STEAL this Election. We won’t let them!”
Then he added: “They will PACK THE COURTS. We won’t let that happen!”
One response to his Twitter feed claimed the president’s “string of delusional tweets are disturbing in the extreme.”
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