July 13, 2017

This story would be funny if it weren't true. Our President* has another imaginary friend. We all remember the stories that came out during the election recounting totally bizarre calls Trump would make claiming he was John Miller, a fictional spokesman for the Trump Organization.

Well, now he has come up with another fictitious friend, who he has named "Jim." This is a man who he calls "a very, very substantial guy." Trump talked about him many times in recent months, so the New Yorker tried to find him. The New Yorker reported:

Trump doesn’t follow any Jims on Twitter. But it’s easy to find Jims with whom he’s crossed paths. Jim Kelly, formerly of the Buffalo Bills? “No, that would not be Jim Kelly,” a representative said. Jim Dolan, the C.E.O. of Cablevision and the chairman of Madison Square Garden, who lent Trump the Rockettes for his inaugural concert? “That’s not him,” his spokesperson responded. Jim Furyk, the golfer? “Not him,” according to his agent. Jim Davis, the footwear mogul, whose support for Trump prompted a hate Web site to declare New Balance “the Official Shoes of White People”? “No, it is not Jim Davis,” a company P.R. manager replied. Jim Inhofe, the senator and climate-change denier, did not respond; neither did Jim McNerney, the former Boeing executive, who is part of the President’s Kitchen Cabinet. Jim Mattis, the “Warrior Monk” general, doesn’t have a wife. James Comey—does anybody know if he goes by Jim?

So, who is Jim?

A reporter today attempted to get to the bottom of this mystery. Here's how it went:

Reporter: You've mentioned a friend, Jim. We told you that Paris is no longer Paris. You were implying at the time that Paris was not safe anymore. You've also said that France and Germany are infected by terrorism and, it's terrible because they let people enter the territory. Those are very strong words. Would you repeat them today? And do you still believe that France is not able to fight terrorism on its own territory? Thank you.

Trump: You better let me answer that one first. That's a beauty. He's the one that asked the question. That wasn't even one of my picks. You know what? It's going to be just fine because off great President. You have somebody who's going to run this country right. And I would be willing to bet, because I think this is one of the great cities, one of the most beautiful cities in the world, and you have a great leader now, you have a great President, you have a tough President. He's not going to be easy on people that are breaking the laws and people that show this tremendous violence. so I really have a feeling that you're going to have a very, very peaceful and beautiful Paris. And I'm coming back. You better do a good job, please. otherwise you're going to make me look very bad. ...

So, no answer about who Jim is. A whole lot of tap dancing about Paris and how terrible it is. Incredible amount of sucking up to Macron. The serious question is this: does Trump *really* think he has a friend named Jim? Is he delusional? Is he hallucinating that people exist? Or is this just another lie ?

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