David Frum appeared on MSNBC and said, Trump “is weak, he is heading for a historic political defeat–one that will likely take the Republican Senate down with him. He is terrified all the time. His bravado is a carapace around his fear.“
Trump’s brand is built around winning.
In his world—where cheating and breaking rules are fine as long as you come out on top—he’s been able to spin himself as a winner.
Soon he won’t be able to do that.
His base think he’s a success, where success means
- accumulating wealth (it doesn’t matter how)
- “saying it like it is,”
- breaking rules,
- doing battle with the “enemies” (Democrats, minority communities) and
- dismantling what they see as an illegitimate federal government.
What does he do when he can no longer wrap himself in the trappings of success? The answer, of course, is that he (and his base) will see him as a victim, because they are hierarchical thinkers.
A hierarchical leader (like Trump) sells himself as the guy who can “win.” Mussolini did the same thing. When it was clear that Mussolini was losing, he was doomed.
“Even the best propaganda cannot conceal constant political failures,” Schulze-Wechsungen, a Nazi propagandist.
By Trump’s standards and the standards of his followers, he’s about to face a historical electoral defeat.
I have long argued that people underestimate Trump. I’ve argued that he’s a master manipulator. He knows how to keep people spinning. He controls the news cycle. He has the GOP leadership reduced to lapdogs.
But he isn’t invincible. Soon the “I am a winner” veneer will come off.
About three hours after I tweeted all of that, Trump tweeted this:
Given that the above tweet came immediately following days of wall-to-wall coverage of his “disinfectant” comments, everyone except his die hard supporters understand that he screwed up so badly with these press conferences that he knows he has to stop.
That is not winning.
The candidates he endorses lose.
He also knows how to read the polls. During the 2016 election, he often said he was “winning” the polls. He’s not “winning” the polls:
For perspective, there was about 9 point difference between approval and disapproval at the time of the midterms, and the Dems won by 8 points
* * * *
I forgot to tell you why April 23 is an important anniversary. You see, there was a little known girl in 1951. . . (click here for more).
