For Trump, reality is just a prop he doesn't care to use

(CNN)"Washington has not changed Donald Trump. Donald Trump has changed Washington," said Ivanka Trump as she introduced her father at the Republican National Convention Thursday night. The scene as President Donald Trump accepted the nomination to run for reelection made it hard not to agree with her. Ruth Ben-Ghiat Breaking with precedent, and flouting the Hatch Act designed to prevent politicization of public service, he spoke from the White House grounds to an audience that mostly neglected to wear any protective gear against the raging coronavirus pandemic, but never failed to applaud him on cue. The acceptance of a presidential nomination is a hallowed American political ritual and the...