Think what you may of Donald Trump, but you must admit he is an entertainer. While much of what he says or writes these days is nonsense or scary, occasionally, usually unintentionally, he says or tweets funny, unexpected things.
Trump is especially creative at campaign rallies when the “shi**y” teleprompters malfunction and in posts on his failing social media site. Some of his more outrageous posts appear written to attract new subscribers to the ironically named “Truth Social.”
Almost every Trump social media post is, in a perverse way, interesting. How many criminal defendants ridicule judges, prosecutors, and the Department of Justice? What will Trump call the Democrats and Biden this week?
Entire books could be published consisting of nothing more than bizarre Trump quotes. Maybe Trump plans one such book himself. The revenues from sales could come in handy as judgments against him continue to mount. And at least some lawyers working for him must be paid. (If they are not, Trump could find himself in court again.)
And PhD candidates in psychology must be pouring over Trump’s musings for their doctoral theses. Expect major advances soon in the study of narcissism and other forms of sociopathy.
Thus, at least to some of us, Trump is weirdly engaging. Right? But the 2024 election is no joke, so in looking at Trump’s continuing string of strange musings, I ask, what is going on? Why say things that fuel the left-wing media? Things like telling a meeting of House Republicans, “Nancy Pelosi’s daughter is a whacko, her daughter told me that if things were different Nancy and I would be perfect together, there’s an aged difference though.”
Donald Trump also told rally attendees that the site of next month’s Republican convention is a “horrible city” overrun by crime. Why would Trump insult Milwaukee, a key city in one of the six states expected to decide the 2024 election?
Perhaps Trump’s strangest comment came at a recent campaign rally in Las Vegas. Trump talked about electric-powered boats and told his audience that the weight of the batteries would cause the boat to sink, exposing the passengers to sharks. He discussed the choice between getting electrocuted and being eaten by sharks. Trump said he would prefer electrocution. Interesting? Maybe to a psychiatrist.
I have been wondering why Trump regularly spouts nonsense. Isn’t there somebody, anybody in his campaign to tell him to cool it? If Trump’s mentor, lawyer Roy Cohn, were still around, he might whisper in Trump’s ear, “Donald, stop making a fool of yourself.”
One theory is that the 78-year-old ex-president is in mental decline and is losing self-control. Age, a poor diet, and the stress of multiple civil and criminal cases against him is taking a toll on his psyche.
Another theory is that by spouting nonsense, Trump weakens criticism of things like his embrace of racists, his criminal record, and, of course, his instigation of the January 6, 2021, insurrection at the Capitol. Trump’s call for his followers to come to Washington, including the promise, “it will be wild,” is excused as “Trump just being Trump” because he always says outrageous things. How can you assume he was serious in bringing the Proud Boys to Washington when he also rails against offshore windmills?
Trump’s followers dismiss some of what he says while accepting the rest as truth. Crowds at his rallies listen to tales of sharks and dinner with Hannibal Lector and giggle. But when he talks about rampant voter fraud, a weaponized Department of Justice, or suggests that the FBI wanted him assassinated, they take him seriously. Trump followers filter through Trump’s heap of nonsense to find the things Trump wants them to believe, the things that will help him regain the White House.
I recently reviewed comments received to several of my columns discussing Trump. Some readers regurgitate Trump’s claims verbatim. One writer, for example, reminded me that legal scholars cannot identify the crime Trump was found guilty of in New York.
It should not be a surprise that Trump followers, which include dozens of federal, state, and local elected officials, believe the 2020 election was stolen, that President Biden heads a “crime family,” and that Mexico and other countries empty their prisons to flood America with rapists and thugs. Trump has the ability to get otherwise intelligent people to believe absurd or dangerous things. You are not alone if you think Hitler had the same ability.
Trump has made the ludicrous normal and expected. He has convinced the least sophisticated voters that their votes matter while convincing the rest of us that democracy has its limits. Most importantly, Trump has demonstrated that political parties are not a safeguard against unfit or unqualified people winning the presidency and other elective offices. He also has raised the prospect of scrapping our entire Constitutional system in favor of a dictatorship.
Trump’s political career will someday be seen as an interesting era not for the good that resulted but for the damage done. Mussolini, Juan Peron, and other dictators were interesting in the same way.
Will enough voters come to see Trump for what he is by election day? I hope so, but it will not happen if more of us don’t stop talking about Trump with other people who already dismiss him and start convincing others to take a closer look. And it will not happen if people choose not to vote because they see Biden as too old or conclude both candidates are unacceptable.
J.E. Dean is a retired attorney and public affairs consultant. He writes on politics, government, and, too infrequently, other subjects.
Chris Gordon says
Your first sentence explains it all. Trump has no interest in true or false, right or wrong. ratings are all that matter..
John Dean says
Thank you for reading my piece. I appreciate it.