Like a third world despot

At Donald Trump’s bizarre narcissistic speech in front of the CIA’s wall memorializing agents who lost their lives serving the US, one of the most jarring notes was the applauding and cheering when Trump blathered out his signature talking points, or when he bragged about how many times he’d been on the cover of TIME magazine. (Yes, he really did this.)

Now, thanks to UK paper The Independent, we know for sure what many of us already suspected: that cheering section wasn’t composed of CIA employees. It was a group of Trump sycophants he brought with him to make it look as if the CIA loved him.

Pool reports later clarified that the attendants who were cheering and clapping when Mr Trump spoke were not CIA staffers but people who accompanied Mr Trump to the briefing.

For their sake, I hope they were paid in cash, because Trump is known for stiffing the actors he brings to his events.