Less than two weeks after Donald Trump saluted the Jan. 6 insurrectionists who attacked Capitol police, the quadruple-indicted candidate used his visit to slain NYPD officer Jonathan Diller's wake to pretend he stands for law and order and cares about police officers. Predictably, Fox News validated the charade.

To be clear, I have no problem with Donald Trump or anyone else attending anyone's wake. And if Trump's presence comforted Officer Diller's family, great.

I do have a problem with Trump using his visit as a stunt. I poured out my outrage in a post published today at Crooks and Liars. Here's an excerpt:

Even if you think Trump is innocent of every one of the 88 felony charges against him, including inciting the violence wrought against police officers on Jan. 6, 2021, he still should never be allowed to pretend he cares about law and order. After all, this is the guy who was found to have sexually abused E. Jean Carroll and was caught on video boasting about grabbing women by the pu**y. More recently, he was fined $464 million for defrauding lenders in New York.

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Perhaps worse than all of that on the hypocrisy scale is Trump's salute of the January 6 insurrectionists. Calling Trump's adoration of them a “cornerstone” of his campaign, AP reported that at his March 17 rally, “Trump stood onstage, his hand raised in salute to the brim of his red MAGA hat, as a recorded chorus of prisoners in jail for their roles in the Jan. 6 attack sang the national anthem.” Trump called them “unbelievable patriots” when the recording ended and promised to help them his first day back in office.

I also noted that approximately 127 of the insurrectionists were charged with using a deadly or dangerous weapon or causing serious bodily injury to a Capitol police officer. If Trump really cared about blue lives, he'd have visited the 114 officers injured that day and the families of the five officers who died in connection with the siege.

Predictably, Fox & Friends saw nothing not to love, no hypocrisy and no self-serving behavior from Mr. 88 felonies having declared, “We have to get back to law and order” as an audience gathered around him outside the wake.

Instead, we got Brian Kilmeade teeing up one softball after another for Trump, each designed to give him a chance to posture. For starters, Kilmeade asked, “Why was it important for you” to speak with Diller's widow, Stephanie?

Trump's response? He began by paying his respects and ended by making his rambling remarks all about himself:

TRUMP: Stephanie's incredible and they wanted me to be there and I wanted to be there and I came in from Florida. And what a family. the Diller family, and they lost a hero, really just a hero... The whole country feels this way and it's happening more and more and it's really a lack of respect for law and order and we have to have law and order back in our country and we're going to - this just can't happen. … This is a blue blood family, blue blood and top of his class and everything perfect. A beautiful record of doing his job properly and fairly. And this is what happens. It's just so hard.

Trump respectfully spoke about the outpouring of support from fellow officers. But you know he couldn't help himself from hate mongering and fear mongering - with lies, as he continued.

TRUMP: It's getting getting worse and worse for police because we're not, we're not taking care of them. We're not allowing them to do their job properly. If you think about it, the man (who allegedly killed Diller) is arrested 21 times, he's a killer. His nickname, I guess is Killer, or the other one is Killer. And when you think about it, this shouldn't be - it shouldn't be where you, you go up to a car and they shoot you and murder you. This shouldn't be happening in this country and it shouldn't be happening anywhere. We're going to stop it. It's got to stop. We have to have law and order …

FACT CHECK: Crime is down in New York City.

Not that Kilmeade pointed that out. Instead, he teed up another opportunity for Trump to hold himself up as a law and order champion. Kilmeade asked, "What does it tell you" that President Biden did not attend the wake?

"I think that politically he can't support the police," Trump replied. "I think he's also making a mistake, but I think politically is his base won't let him support the police. And I support the police, I would say at the highest level of any president by far, maybe doubled or tripled and they knew that that's why, when I walked into that funeral parlor it was it was like love...

Of course, Kilmeade didn't challenge a word. Instead, he prodded Trump to further attack President Joe Biden and also former Presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton in the next question. The three ex-presidents had been at a fundraiser at Radio City. “What is the message to the presidents at Radio City right now?” Kilmeade asked.

Trump put on a solemn and presidential demeanor. “Well, they missed a very sad moment for our country, but it's a moment that they have to be a part of whether they like it or not. They can't skip this moment,” he said.

Then Trump trashed the country he pretends to love. “They're going to have to get involved a little bit because this country is going to hell. Our country is not respected anymore. We're really - I say it in my rallies and my speeches. We're a nation in decline,” Trump said.

“But fixable,” Kilmeade interrupted, and Trump agreed.

Of course, the key to fixing it is electing himself. “The most important day in the history of our country is going to be November 5th. That's Election Day. …. That is the most important period of time. It's the most important day in the history of our country. Our country is going bad, and it's going to be changed on November 5. And if it's not changed, we're not going to have a country anymore,” Trump declared. Again, not a peep of objection from Kilmeade.

You can watch the deceit below, from the March 29, 2024 Fox & Friends.