At Trump’s angry announcement, the magic is gone

Donald Trump, The Washington Post reported Tuesday, “wants to recapture the underdog vibe” of his 2016 campaign for the presidency.

If that is his goal, he has already scored a big win. Huge, in fact.

Republicans are (justifiably) blaming Trump for their pratfall in last week’s midterms, the third straight election in which voters rejected the MAGA brand. #Winning

Trump-endorsed election deniers, such as Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake, lost up and down the ballot, as Republicans blew their chance to take the Senate and win a workable majority in the House. #Winning

Aides pressed Trump, publicly, not to announce his 2024 presidential candidacy on Tuesday night, so soon after the dismal election. #Winning

“In order to make America great and glorious again, I am tonight announcing my candidacy for president of the United States,” he informed to his guests — an announcement that surprised no one and delighted only slightly more.

Trump aide Jason Miller promised a 35-minute, “very forward-looking” speech. Instead, it was interminable, meandering and, well, low-energy, as Trump kept departing from the teleprompter into gibberish.

He was defensive. He said the “fake news” is “trying to blame me” for the disappointing election showing, but he had an “unprecedented success rate” (!) with his endorsements.

He spoke nonsense: “I’ve gone decades — decades — without a war, the first president to do it that long,” he said of his fouryear term.

He lashed out anew at immigrants undertaking an “invasion” of America for “very bad and sinister reasons.”

And he voiced more election conspiracies, saying voting in the United States is worse than in a “third world country” and suggesting “China played a very active role in the 2020 election” to defeat him. As Trump rambled, the planned 35-minute speech eventually passed the 65-minute mark. Along the way, the crowd of about 600 grew listless. Even Sean Hannity cut away on Fox News.

Karl Marx, of all people, anticipated the Donald Trump of 2022, when he noted that great personages of history occur twice, “the first time as tragedy, the second as farce.”

Only a fool would count

Trump out. If past is prologue, GOP leaders who criticize him now will embrace him anew in about a week.

But the number of Trump supporters lining the intracoastal waterway, or driving back and forth in trucks and motorcycles waving “Trump 2024” and “Let’s Go, Brandon” banners, numbered not in the thousands nor even the hundreds but the dozens.

With elected Republicans shunning the event, Trump’s campaign filled the room with the usual Trump sycophants. Roger Stone, Boris Epshteyn, Devin Nunes, Russ Vought, Matt Whitaker, Kash Patel, Hogan Gidley and others posed for photos with fans in MAGA hats and motorcycle jackets.

MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell worked the media section, granting interviews to anyone who would listen. I asked if he, like Trump, had a “special announcement” to make.

“We’re gonna melt down the voting machines and turn them into prison bars,” he replied.

A Trump 2024 agenda begins to take shape.

The Trump campaign seemed to be compensating for the lack of respect. No fewer than 33 flags jammed the stage in the gilded Mar-a-Lago ballroom, with its 15 massive chandeliers and mirrored walls. Banners and big screens demanded “Make America Great Again!” (The urgent exclamation point has been added.)

But the magic was missing. As Trump was about to enter the room, the sound system blasted the “Les Miserables” soundtrack:

Do you hear the people sing? Singing a song of angry men? No. I hear one angry man singing a song of himself.