I was reminded the other day of a phrase: “People who live in glass houses should not throw stones.”

Out of curiosity, I thought it would be interesting to see if I could invent similar aphorisms. How about: “The crow calling the raven too dark.” “The sea accuses the beach of being sandy.” “The hammer rebuking the nail for hardness.” “Blaming the typewrite for bad spelling.”

Hypocrisy occurs when someone charges others with behavior that they practice. It involves a gap, a disconnect, between public declarations and personal conduct. This leads us to the meat of this banquet — Donald Trump. In Trump’s case, we find numerous instances where his censure of another mirrors his own. Whether in his career in business or government, Trump has accused others of actions in which he has engaged.

Here then is a brief list of notable examples where Mr. Trump can be accused of hypocrisy:

Trump accuses others of spreading fake news and falsehoods. Throughout his presidency and current reelection efforts, Trump has been documented with over 30,000 false or misleading claims; normalizing hype, hoaxes and conspiracies. He owns his own media company and has unlimited access to another where he can blather freely — SHOUTING IN CAPS!

Trump claims he is smart; others are dumb (Biden is “mentally impaired”; Harris is “mentally disabled” and was “born that way”); that Trump was the best president while historians place him last; that he knows more; yet demonstrates little knowledge of history, geography, medicine foreign affairs, environment, economics or logic (how can Harris be a communist and a fascist?); and Trump doesn’t like “tough” questions from the press. Recently, he showed ignorance of the hurricane season. And this is a self-proclaimed “stable genius.”

Trump, a “staunch supporter of the rule of law,” states we should “shoot looters.” He accused Hillary Clinton of using a personal email server and (possibly) exposing national secrets (“Lock Her Up”). How many secret documents did Trump store illegally in his Florida retreat and refuse to return them? He accuses President Joe Biden of being a criminal. Which one was impeached — twice? Which one is charged with multiple crimes in New York, Georgia and Florida? Who has criticized others for “taking the 5th” while doing the same 450 times? Who has been recorded trying to extort a foreign government to punish a political rival? Who asked armed followers to march on the Capitol to “fight like hell,” to “stop the steal,” that “we will never concede.” Sounds inflammatory to me. And, if not elected in November, promises a “bloodbath.” Additionally, when reelected, Trump promises “military tribunals” to imprison those who opposed him and will seek to close those news sources that published news stories critical of his policies or actions.

Trump blames others for creating an atmosphere of hate. Other than calls for “civil disobedience” against police injustice and Trump “a threat to democracy,” “a loser,” “felon” and “abuser.” I find none that come close to his heated litany against largely non-white immigrants: “These people are animals … savages … aliens … vermin,” “thugs and slime-balls,” “insane foreigners taking over hundreds of cities raping and killing thousands of Americans,” “poisoning the blood of our country.” And he asks supporters to “go after” the New York attorney general. If you have read or heard any of Hitler’s speeches against Jews, Blacks and other “deviants” during the 1930s, such Trump comments should give you pause.

Trump promises to “Drain the Swamp” in Washington, yet many officials in his prior administration were involved in scandals. His campaign chairman was convicted of financial crimes, and his national security adviser was guilty of lying to the FBI. Trump also practiced nepotism by appointing family members to prominent White House positions. And we continue to question the activity of his son-in-law’s investment firm formed in 2021 and funded by Middle Eastern nations (to the tune of $3 billion).

Trump promises to “bring jobs back to America” and to penalize companies that outsourced jobs abroad. Yet many products from Trump’s businesses were produced overseas including clothing, accessories and gimcrackery that he offers to his followers at exorbitant prices. The Trump Organization had numerous business ties with foreign companies, banks and governments.

“I am the hardest working president of all time,” Trump claims, yet he played golf on 300 of those days in office; and, according to his staff, rarely reads briefing documents, spends hours watching television and publishing comments on social media. (Biden played golf 24 times, always reads his briefing papers and seldom watches TV.) The irony and duplicity here are stark.

Trump touts his leadership skills and financial acumen, and highlights his opponent’s limitations. Let’s look at a list of his failed businesses: Trump Airlines, Beverages, Casinos (three), Fragrance, Game, Magazine, Mortgage, Mattress, Steaks, Tower (Tampa), Travel, Truth Social and Trump University. And let us not ignore all those workers abandoned with unpaid salaries (“I support the working man”). Even today, he refuses to pay bills owed to towns and states for his rally security.

MAGA is an acronym for “Make America Great Again.” One can only wonder what Trump means by “Great.” If he means great as in the Project 2025 proposals, that will be the topic of a subsequent essay.

Hubbard C. Goodrich is a Harpswell resident.