Trump’s America: We’re all so easily conned

Television is packed this season with con-man shows. There are five—count ’em, five—crowding the airwaves. And that’s not even counting the con-man show that’s on all the news channels 24 hours a day.

That one has different titles on different networks.

CNN: “Puttin’s Puppet Who Stole the Election: Is He Crazy, Corrupt or Senile?”

MSNBC: “The 25th Amendment.”

Fox: “We Won. You Lost. He’s the Greatest.”

Univision: “Bad Hombre in the Casa Blanca.”

C-SPAN: “We’re Trying to Make This Boring—We Just Can’t.”

Bloomberg: “Holy Christmas! Look at the Dow!”

By whatever show name, the con man in the White House has plenty of genre competition. ABC’s “The Catch.” TNT’s “Good Behavior.” Bravo’s “Imposters.” Hulu’s “Shut Eye.” Amazon’s “Sneaky Pete.”

Heck, even I’m writing a book right now called “The Uninvited,” which is about—you guessed it—a con man. My guy ends up, all true, singing on stage at the Grammys, partying at the Kremlin and driving the president’s motorcade. A different president. You’ll see when the book comes out in November.

For now, Donald Trump is the one defining for all of us what it means to be a con man.

“Obama bugged me.”

“The Muslim ban isn’t a Muslim ban.”

“I’ll protect your Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.”

“Mexico will pay for the wall.”

“We’re draining the swamp in Washington.”

“You’ll love the new health plan.”

Come on, don’t you believe him? He’s the president. Why would he lie?

Metro columnist Ellis Henican is a veteran journalist, a bestselling author and a frequent commentator on CNN and other TV networks. Follow him on Twitter @henican.