I read six sycophantic pro-Trump books — and then I read Omarosa

by Carlos Lozada,

Hagiographies of the president share seven core traits.

Some are born Trump sycophants. Some achieve Trump sycophancy. And some have Trump sycophancy thrust upon them — since he’s a star, they let him do that.

Look past the cable-news apologists, rally die-hards and compulsive @realDonaldTrump retweeters, and you find the fawning, best-selling pro-Trump book authors, those who bind their allegiance in hard covers for all eternity. These writers have elevated the reflexive defense of Trump to an art form, even if, as often as not, it’s of the paint-by-numbers variety. Their book titles (“Trump’s America,” “Understanding Trump,” “Let Trump Be Trump,” “The Russia Hoax” and the like) and book jackets (Trump flashing his thumbs-up, his antagonists lurking in ominous black-and-white tones) make the works’ audience and purpose clear. Crack those covers, and you find that whatever the author’s vantage point — former staffer, outside adviser, legal analyst, Fox News host — there is a particular way to write these books. The works display recurring tics of Trump-like language, comfort with cynicism, talent for tautology, weakness for flattery and freakish levels of rhetorical and moral contortion.

These do not appear to be difficult books to write, but for one challenge: At some point and in some way, they must grapple with Trump himself.

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