The Witness Chronicles, May 20, 2024

Trump’s bubble

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Does Donald Trump Really Believe Biden is Senile?

And is that why he accepted the terms of the debates? Oh, wait…

After his many claims that he will debate Biden, the current President called Trump’s bluff by calling for debates and initially the Trump team agreed. Then he started adding conditions, the first being a demand that Biden be drug tested.

The implication Trump is making is that Biden’s fiery State of the Union address was somehow the result of Biden being doped up, an absurd idea. The quick Trump agreement to Biden’s debate terms, including earlier than usual dates and no live audience, is giving way to excuses.

Trump has been constantly implying Biden is senile and you have to wonder if he actually believes his own baloney. We’ve seen the epithet Sleepy Joe get quietly dropped after witnessing Trump repeatedly falling asleep at his ongoing criminal trial in NY.

The Sleepy senile Joe claims lost most of their impact after the State of the Union address. It became hard to justify them after the country saw the President not only sharp and on point, but fully capable of throwing shade at the rudeness of the extreme right wing members in the audience. My guess is that was a shock to the Trump team who seem to live in a world of entirely made up beliefs.

If they really buy into their own talk it would explain Trump’s declarations that he would debate Biden at any time, under any conditions. After Biden accepted that challenge and after agreeing to the terms, we are seeing Trump start to make excuses for not debating, something a lot of observers expected.

The lack of a live audience was a huge concession Trump made and it is the likely leading reason he is trying to back out. After the notorious CNN town hall months ago where Trump was allowed to pack the audience with MAGA true believers who totally disrupted any dialog, we saw how his campaign uses live audiences.

Not this time and that will leave Trump without his bubble of fans. He would get an unusual dose of reality as he is restrained from going off on his rabble rousing routine.

Trump’s handlers, who have an impossible job to begin with, would have little ability to rein in their candidate. An uncontrolled Trump in two debates could result in many Americans seeing what this guy is, under the harsh lights of the debate stage. And that would be a scary situation for many in the Republican Party who seem to have created their own bubble of delusion around their guy.

Biden, on the other hand, has pursued a strategy of being the quiet voice of reason, but we are seeing more and more of the veteran politician as attack dog. He knows that Trump can dish it out but, like most bullies, can’t take it in return.

If the debates take place, and that is a big if, we’ll see probably the strangest political encounters in anyone’s lifetime. And with their early dates in June and September, the effects will have time to sink in with voters. Combined with the result of Trump’s first trial, there would likely be an erosion of support from those sitting on the fence right now.

So, two questions sit in my view when it comes to the debates. The first is whether they will even take place and the second is how much does Donald Trump believe his own bullshit? I suspect he doesn’t, but it’s hard to underestimate the delusional character of an extreme sociopathic narcissist.

Trump’s constant claims of what a wonderful and effective president he was, claims with no basis in reality, typically go unchallenged at his public appearances. But as the trial in New York is showing, he appears weak and old when faced with an authority figure like the trial judge.

He is a man who has never had to face discipline or consequences for his actions, insulated by his money and bluster. But sharing a stage with only a moderator and Joe Biden, we risk seeing the real Trump. And that is a nightmare for those who support him.

More political theater ahead. It would be quite entertaining if the stakes were not so dire, with the fate of democracy itself in danger. But the debates might show just how bad that danger could be and that could deal a death blow to Trump’s prospects.

~ I write The Grasshopper, a letter for creatives, The Witness Chronicles, a place for my articles on politics and climate, and The Remarkable, a recovery letter, about my addiction and reentry experience. All are weekly and free, however this is how I live and I strongly believe all writers and creatives should get paid, if we provide value. Your support with a paid subscription helps make that happen.

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