Trump's 'Nambia' Gaffe Perfectly Illustrates the Intellectual Dishonesty in Tribalism

By Jim Jamitis | 1:20 PM on September 21, 2017

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Anyone who has read anything I’ve written in the last year probably knows that double standards are really a burr under my saddle. Thanks to the cult of Trump, double standards are as prevalent on the right as they have always been on the left. Trump’s latest brain fart, in which he invents a whole new African country is a great example.

“In Guinea and Nigeria, you fought a horrifying Ebola outbreak,” Trump told African leaders gathered Wednesday. “Nambia’s health system is increasingly self-sufficient.”

Trump mentioned Nambia twice during the session attended by leaders of several nations, including Ghana, Namibia and Uganda.

The gaffe lit up social media, with many speculating whether he meant Namibia, Zambia or Gambia, all of which have names that sound similar.

The White House later clarified that Trump was talking about the southwestern African nation of Namibia. Namibia dodged the Ebola outbreak that killed thousands in Africa two years ago and affected several nations, including the United States.

First, I’m not bashing Trump for making an error while reading a prepared statement. Everyone has moments like this, some more than others, but nobody’s perfect. There is a country called Namibia, one called Zambia, and another called Gambia. Getting the names mixed up is obviously not ideal or a sign of being well prepared, but it’s not really a big deal.

Where is 'Nambia'? President Trump 'invents' African country – BBC News https://t.co/rQEzJ9VaPa

— Geraldine de Bastion (@geralbine) September 21, 2017

While we endured the 8 years of Obama’s Presidency people on the right seized upon this sort of gaffe relentlessly. I participated in it too. Fifty seven states, Navy corpse-man…Obama had plenty of goofs to rip on. One refrain from the right asked “Imagine if Bush had said that,” referring to the likely crap storm the left would have unleashed on him. In some ways it was the beginnings of the rampant plague of “whataboutism” we’re currently seeing on the right. I’m sure Sean Hannity or some other loyal Trump surrogate will read a litany of Obama’s gaffe’s today if forced to address Trump’s “Nambia” boner.

What about when Obama said….? That question will be used to dismiss Trump’s gaffe by people who made a big deal of Obama’s similar gaffes. Few on the right will stop and consider how they would have reacted if Obama invented Nambia. They’ll dodge and deflect rather than acknowledge their double standard and on the left people who ignored Obama’s screw ups are celebrating Trump’s.

“Nambia” isn’t a big deal but it does illustrate how both political tribes are equally fake and how cheap shots are stock and trade. It’s all a big game played by phonies.