Former President Donald Trump was widely mocked after he referred to himself as "Honest Don" in a bizarre Truth Social post, a brazen choice for a man currently facing 91 federal and state charges across four separate indictments, particularly for his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 general election, and multiple civil judgments against him.
Trump's post came after Minnesota Democratic Representative Dean Phillips suspended his long-shot campaign against President Joe Biden. Acknowleding "the stark reality we face," Phillips urged his supporters to "join me in mobilizing, energizing, and doing everything you can to help keep a man of decency and integrity in the White House."
Trump called Phillips' campaign "hapless" and said he "was not very good at his craft, politics," adding:
"In fact, I would say that he was far worse than the Republican challengers to me, with a few exceptions. I’ll give you those names if you like, but I’d rather get down to the serious business of defeating the worst President in the history of the United States, by far, Crooked Joe Biden!!!”
Trump—who has previously refused to participate in debates with other GOP candidates—then made the following proposition:
“For the good of our now failing Nation, and in order to inform the American people of what is going on in our Country, we must immediately have a full scale debate between Crooked Joe and Honest Don. I’m ready to go, ANY TIME, ANY PLACE!”
You can see Trump's post below.
@realDonaldTrump/Truth Social
It was Trump's attempt to nickname himself "Honest Don" that really got people going—and they were quick to point out that he's never been honest at all.
The rationale behind Trump's desire for an early debate remains unclear though there is speculation it could be due to the potential legal entanglements he faces by September.
In December, the Biden campaign noted it hadn't discussed a potential general election debate with Trump. Last week, Biden mentioned that any debate between the leading candidates would hinge on Trump's "behavior."
The Biden campaign dismissed Trump’s call for debates as “thirsty for attention” just before Biden delivered his State of the Union address last week.
Ash Stanton/Facebook
Laura Sprinkle/Facebook
Akira Karasu/Facebook
Cevanna Gilbert/Facebook
Troy Adam/Facebook
@GovPressOffice/X
@realDonaldTrump/Truth Social