phony

So he retreats to this phony masculine idea of "strength," constructed through Hollywood magic.

The way to get there, however, is not through transparently phony defenses of transparent cowardice.

“You don’t want to affect people’s lives if it’s phony stuff in there,” he said, “because it’s a lot of phony stuff in that whole world.”

In the past few weeks, Trump has retreated to the safe spaces of far-right media, phony events with only hand-picked supporters in attendance, and rallies, coddled from any scary reminders that most Americans dislike him.

“And I’ve always wanted to work at McDonald’s, but I never did. I’m running against somebody that said she did, but it turned out to be a totally phony story.”