Joe Biden dropping out of the presidential race helped, but Trump’s dream of returning triumphantly to the White House in 2025 was already in trouble a year ago. The problem is not just the criminal indictments and gaffes at rallies. It is something else. The Trump act, the persona he created to run for president, has grown old. Like the characters on a sitcom that runs too long, Trump is no longer interesting.
Today even Trump’s most ardent supporters know what he is going to do next. That is why some attendees at his Wilkes-Barre rally last Saturday walked out while Trump was still speaking. They had heard it before. Maybe they expected something new. They didn’t get it.
The Trump Show has never been of interest to many voters. Some Democrats claim they never watch any Trump speeches, avoid reading anything about his proposals, and even his legal problems because, as they put it, “he is evil.” If more Democrats sampled what Trump is offering today, the result would be even more urgent efforts to defeat him. The more you know about Trump, the more obvious it is that he must be defeated.
What are the mainstays of the Trump Show that are turning off voters, including Republicans?
The name-calling. In Wilkes-Barre, Trump called Kamala Harris “a Communist” for proposing price controls. In other recent speeches, she was credited with inflation, opening the border, and called an idiot. Trump also suggests she stole the Democratic presidential nomination from Joe Biden.
In one of the more ridiculous, weird things Trump said at the Pennsylvania rally, Trump said he was better looking than Harris. (That must have hurt Harris’ feelings.)
Trump is recycling names. “Crooked” and “Crazy” are two mainstays. “Crazy” has been applied to Nancy Pelosi, Bernie Sanders, Harris, and others. Other favorites include “corrupt,” “fake,” and “lunatic.” And the list goes on and is tiresome.
Trump admits the name-calling is essential to destroying “the brand” of his opponents. Under the skillful hand of Kellyanne Conway in 2016, the ploy worked. Hillary Clinton’s favorability ratings plummeted.
Saying America is “broken.” The spiel, of course, is that Trump is the only person who can fix it. But people are tired of hearing that America is broken. People I talk to who comment on Trump’s claim about whether a 78-year-old man has time to fix it. According to Trump, the America that is broken includes the FBI, the Justice Department, border security, trade with China, America’s involvement/role in wars in Ukraine and Gaza, American cities, the military, the media, and more. Enough already.
Lying. Trump lies about everything, even when the lies make him look ridiculous. He is still lying about the 2020 election and his January 6, 2021, insurrection. Some Republicans might find Trump’s lying amusing, but most of us don’t.
Greed. Last week the Federal Election Commission released Trump’s required financial disclosures. The information got less media coverage than I expected. Trump earned hundreds of thousands of dollars from the sale of $60 bibles, non-fungible tokens (NFTs depicting himself as a superhero), and other Trump-branded merchandise, most of it bought by MAGA supporters. Trump is proving that it is more lucrative to run for president than to serve in office. (I wonder how Trump’s defeat in November will impact future sales or the value of these “collectibles.”)
Age-related decline. Why does Trump look frail these days? Is it Post-Traumatic Stress caused by the assassination attempt against him? Is it dementia? Is it mental illness? I will leave it to the professionals to diagnose Trump, but the ex-president is not looking chipper these days. He looks like an old man. He is not OK.
A couple of years ago, friends persuaded me to attend a performance by a long-retired TV sitcom actor, a comedian once heralded as “brilliant.” The actor gave the performance his best, but the jokes were old, the spark was gone, and the audience left saddened and asking why the actor chose to embarrass himself.
Trump is now an “old actor” without new material. Unfortunately, he is not pandering for a few bucks, but seeking a return to political power. That is why the current season of the Trump Show is not much-watch TV.
The spell has been broken. But the danger of Trump and Trumpism remains. Trump can still win in November. Only voters can stop him.
J.E. Dean is a retired attorney and public affairs consultant. He writes on politics, government, and, too infrequently, other subjects.
Dennis Glackin says
Reportedly, Trump made $300,000 from the sale of the Bibles. Has anyone noticed if he has donated these proceeds to a cause other than himself? Shameful.
John Dean says
Thank you for reading the piece. I did not research whether Trump donated the proceeds, but he did report the $300K as income. I think that confirms he did not donate the proceeds, but I could be wrong.
Michael Davis says
He can’t give money to his own chartiy becasue the state of New York forced him to close it because he and his sons were stealing money from the Trump charity.
Dennis Glackin says
There are plenty of worthy charities to give the money to directly. It doesn’t need to go through his own charity, even if it did still exist. But doesn’t hawking Bibles and keeping the profits seem distasteful at best?
Maggie Andersen says
Let’s hope but stay vigilant! Calls his supporters “basement dwellers!”
JOHN EDWARD DEAN says
Maggie, thank you for reading the piece. I admit to being surprised he would describe his supporters as “basement dwellers,” even in a private conversation. How low can Trump go?
THOMAS FANNON says
I’ve often lambasted Mr. Dean, but I must admit he’s on target here.
Barbara Denton says
I have to hand it to you. Your case of TDS is beyond compare. Trump is not a liar. I wish I could say the same for Kamala and Tim. Kamala and Tim are both communists. Any person like Tim who has been to China 30 times deserves to have achieved card carrying status.
If Kamala is so wonderful why doesn’t she do press interviews? Why haven’t we heard what her platform is? Not one Democrat voted for her to be the nominee. She did steal the nomination with the help of Obama, Pelosi and Schumer. I wonder what the threat and the bribe was to get him to step down.
As per usual you are accusing Trump and his supporters of doing exactly what the Democrats are doing. Kamala was Vice-President and supported the economic disaster we are now suffering through. Kamala was the border Tzar who has let more than 10,000,000 illegals into our Country and that does not count all those who got away. Where are the 290,000 unaccompanied children who were let into our Country and no one can find?
Why were the supposed new jobs created over reported by 810,000? Why don’t we teach our children the basics in school? Reading, writing and math would be great starters. Instead we are saying that the children have mental problems or maybe they want to be another gender. School is not a social project like it is now being conducted. School is for education and preparing our youth to have a great future.
Wilson Dean says
The article is right on point. It is almost awkward to listen to the same over-used name calling and immigrant denunciations that have been the staple of Trump’s repertoire for the past eight years. His problem is not only one of no “new material,” but of no substance. He rants about how bad America is, but offers no concrete solutions to solve our country’s issues (even the many issues he fabricates).
Reed Fawell 3 says
Why did you not address, much less answer, Barbara Denton’s questions?
John Dean says
Thank you for your question. I assume it was addressed to me.
Read the following carefully: “I have to hand it to you. Your case of TDS is beyond compare. Trump is not a liar. I wish I could say the same for Kamala and Tim. Kamala and Tim are both communists. Any person like Tim who has been to China 30 times deserves to have achieved card carrying status.”
My TDS must be beyond compare. That’s why.
Barbara Denton says
Thanks, Reed. They will not answer because the answers would point out the massive failures of the current administration. Wilson Dean trumpets the DNC talking points which is hate Trump no matter what. Trump does not call America bad he calls out the Dems for putting us in the awful position we are now in due to their progressive agenda.
He had put our Country on a good footing in energy, jobs, wages, employment statistics, home ownership, personal savings and a bright future. Then came the 2020 election whose conclusion was highly questionable.
I could go on forever in what the Dems have done to ruin our Country but I do not have the time.
Deirdre LaMotte says
Your steadfast support of this lier issad. But, it is a reflection of what happens when an autocrat tries to win support.There are always the gullible.
One cannot believe a single word that trump utters.
America can not believe a single word trump says either. In fact, what was the last public thing he said that was true? A former aide said whenever he waves his hand together he is lying. Hah!!
Beyond a huge tax cut for the rich, what single policy did he achieve while president? Drinking bleach to get rid of Covid? Separating mothers from their children at the border? How about the Infrastructure Week that never was? Sitting on his tiny hands while rioters stormed the Capital Building on January 6? Being played a fool by Putin and North Korea? Playing golf all day and/or sitting in-front of Fox.
Trump is a convicted felon. He is a mentally unwell old man shouting into the wind. He has no credibility and has no regard for our nation at all, only his own tragic self. As Republican Steve Schmidt said ”No decent American will surrender their freedom or seek to take away another American’s freedom for the purposes of appeasing a political ego or taking power.” No “patriotic” American , that is.
Barbara Denton says
This lying business is always the response by diehard Democrats. Keep ranting it really becomes you. Every thing the Democrats are doing they project on to Trump. Straight out of Alinski’s Rules for Radicals. Too bad it is not sticking. He achieved a lot of things while he was President but you would just call me a liar if I named all of them. Lets just agree to disagree because your and Mr. Dean’s cases of TDS are beyond a cure.
Paul Rybon says
I don’t blame him for seeming tired. What it must feel like to have all that energy taken away in 24 hours by a pretty face playing rope a dope.