Can Trump again fool Americans?
Suddenly everyone is talking about Donald Trump again, in the way you talk about nuclear war or bad weather, which is with a sense of dread and inevitability. Like an orange black hole, if such a thing were possible, Trump swallows up the light of attention and commentary and transforms it into the darkness of division, paranoia and rancour.
Trumpism should be over. The movement has been pronounced dead many times since January 6, 2021, when he urged followers to violently storm the Capitol. Trump’s biggest media backer, Rupert Murdoch, has thrown him overboard. Trumpism, with its election denials and conspiracy theories, was profoundly rejected in the midterms.
He was caught with top-secret documents, stashed in his gaudy Xanadu in Florida. The most palatable members of his immediate family, Ivanka Trump and her husband Jared Kushner, want no part in a rerun of the presidency. And yet he cannot be ruled out.
When the so-called ‘‘red wave’’ did not eventuate, and Trumpbacked candidates like Kari Lake and Mehmet Oz failed, the jokes started again. The jokes have been a coping mechanism since 2016 because they mask the degradation of politics. Ever the gentleman, Trump allegedly blamed his wife for Oz. That should tell you everything.
After the red tsunami was revealed to be a red trickle at most, Trump’s former enablers became the most vicious critics. The Murdoch-owned New York Post ran a front page about Trumpty Dumpty’s great fall, followed by a hilarious account of his re-election bid under the headline ‘‘Florida Man Makes Announcement’’.
The paper said: ‘‘With just 720 days to go before the next election, a Florida retiree made the surprise announcement that he was running for president. Avid golfer Donald J Trump kicked things off at Mar-a-Lago, his resort and classified-documents library . . . Trump, famous for gold-plated lobbies and for firing people on reality television, will be 78 in 2024.’’
Even Fox News, which was Trump’s loudest megaphone, went cold on him.
Any system that could allow Trump to return is a broken system. His re-election speech began where his presidency ended, with boasts, personal attacks and alternative facts. Those who could not believe he would openly attack a Republican rival, when Florida Governor Ron DeSantis became Ron DeSanctimonious, have short memories. Remember ‘‘lowenergy’’ Jeb Bush or ‘‘Lyin’’’ Ted Cruz? Party loyalty was never important.
What, if anything, was the appeal? Perhaps the best recent summary came from comedian Dave Chappelle, who called him ‘‘an honest liar’’. Rather than insist to voters the system wasn’t rigged, Trump agreed it was and said it benefited him and others like him. Avoiding taxes just meant he was smart. Everything they say about the elites is true, and instead of hand-wringing, he took advantage of and bragged about it, according to Chappelle’s analysis. You can call it a form of political nihilism admired by those who felt cheated.
Trump’s early announcement means the turmoil of the 2024 election campaign starts now, at least for the Republicans. The party’s narrow control of the House, stacked on the red side with Trumpists, offers new opportunities to block and grandstand, and gives Trump an indirect platform.
What of the alternatives? DeSantis has been promoted as Trump’s most likely challenger for the Republican nomination. He has been called Trump without the baggage. But is a Trump with discipline, and without messiness, crassness and vanity, any better?
Trump’s former deputy, Mike Pence, could also be a contender. He has talked about finding better choices and uniting the party, but he lacks charisma and raw appeal.
The sad reality is that no matter what is said in 2022, when it comes to 2024, the Republicans and their media supporters will surely hold their noses and back Trump once again if it means winning rather than losing. They have done that so many times before.
But would voters be fooled again by an honest liar?