Mega-rich entrepreneur, television star, and “right”-leaning former presidential candidate Donald Trump made good on his promise to have a “very, very big” announcement on Wednesday. Via a YouTube video, Trump made President Barack Obama a deal that is difficult – but, of course, not impossible – to refuse. Trump offered to give President Barack Obama $5 million to donate to the charities of his own choosing under certain conditions.
The catch, of course, is the conditions Trump puts on the generous offer. Quite appropriately, Donald Trump draws upon Obama to release all of his college transcripts as well as his passport records. These are documents which Barack Obama has kept under lock and key from the American public throughout his ascent in politics, throughout his two presidential campaigns, and, therefore, obviously throughout his entire presidency.
The reaction to the Trump announcement has been from pundits and others claiming they are totally underwhelmed to those claiming to be incredibly overwhelmed with the offer. Naturally, it’s the totally blind Obama-following pundits who believe the offer is not a credible act by Trump. Independents and “right”-leaning thinkers take the offer for what it is.
As I have written before in previous essays, I believe President Barack Obama is not releasing his college transcripts and documents because he does not want the American people to know the courses he took and the organizations of which he participated or possibly even initiated and chose to lead. Beyond that, his college documents could very easily reveal that he was admitted into schools as a foreign exchange student which would strongly imply that he dishonestly got into the schools he attended – since he claims he was really born in Hawaii and not a foreign exchange student from Kenya.
If Obama were to respond to the offer positively and release his records, the American people who have been kept in the dark regarding very important information about the president’s past as well as some very fortunate charitable foundations win big.
Naturally, Trump gave Obama a deadline because he wants the information released well-before the election.
Many are saying that Trump did this solely for his proclivity for the spotlight. Most would probably agree that that is one reason he came up with this latest headline-grab, but, after all, he can afford to make the offer he did and to grab the headline he grabbed.
Even if President Obama refuses the offer, Trump and the “right” win big here because – once again – the nation’s attention is turned to the incredibly strong statement made in Dinesh D’Souza’s movie “2016: Obama’s America” which highlights the fact that Americans do not really know President Obama. With one generous offer, Trump has reminded the public that Obama still – after one term in office as our president – has hidden secrets which he continues to hide and refuses to reveal.
The question is: Why? The answer is: Unfortunately, we may never know.
About Scott Paulson
Scott Paulson writes political commentary for Examiner.com and teaches English at a community college in the Chicago area. The views and opinions expressed in this post are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of CBS Local.
