Hoping for rematch with Trump would be big mistake

In case you missed it

— and it’s likely you did — former President Donald Trump announced on Tuesday night that he is running for president a third time. None of the networks showed the speech in full — perhaps symbolic of how the country will approach the pitchman’s latest attempt at hoodwinking voters into a second term. It ended up being more hype than history.

All three cable news networks dipped in and out of the speech. So did the broadcast streaming networks. Elsewhere, reaction to the speech was downright scathing, even in once friendly corners.

The Rupert Murdoch-owned

ran a one-inch banner at the bottom of Page 1 saying “Florida man makes announcement” — with the final gut punch, “Page 26.”

Conservative outlet National Review made an, er, interesting comparison, writing, “To paraphrase Voltaire after he attended an orgy, once was an experiment, twice would be perverse.”

Even Trump’s daughter Ivanka skipped the speech and released a statement declaring her intention to stay out of politics.

It’s a far cry from the media’s undeniable obsession in 2016, with many a blue-check Twitter handle calling this speech “low energy.”

While he obviously still has a very loyal and sizable fanbase, it’s pretty clear that Trump is no longer fascinating to much of America. After six-plus years of his non-stop antics, we’ve all seen the “wizard” reveal himself to be nothing more than a huckster and a serial narcissist.

“Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain,” he may as well have said in his speech. And that’s what many of us did.

In fact, Trump may have finally entered into the scariest realm of all — boring.

What more is there to see? Over four years we were treated to a never-ending, 24/7 Trump show that took the country on a nausea-inducing roller coaster ride of chaos, confusion, and international embarrassment.

During that time, the Republicans’ cowardly surrender to Trump’s basest impulses lost everything for the party he claimed to prefer, handing Democrats the House, the Senate and the White House and making the so-called experiment an unequivocal failure for the party.

Furthermore, his single term didn’t end with a season-ending cliffhanger — it jumped the shark, finishing with a violent insurrection at the U.S. Capitol and a new president.

Now he is looking at potential indictments for myriad crimes. His post-presidential ventures have faced considerable challenges and scrutiny, with his social media site lagging and facing fraud allegations, his brand suffering, and Trump Organization on trial for tax shenanigans.

It seems like the country is bearish on his future, at least if the midterm elections are any indication. But Democrats appear to be very much looking forward to his campaign. Evidently they’re suffering from some form of collective amnesia or utter insanity. Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who should definitely know better, called a second Trump campaign “an absolute horror show,” but nonetheless said, “On the other hand, I got to say that as a politician who wants to see that no Republican is elected to the White House in 2024…his candidacy is probably a good thing.” Former Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe was speaking for none of us when he said, “I think we would all like Donald Trump to run again.” Even Biden himself said he welcomed the prospect.

Democrats who repeat the mistake of underestimating the Trump base’s loyalty and overestimating the appeal of their candidates are begging for trouble.

Democrats should join the rest of us, including many Republicans and conservatives, in resisting the pull of the Trump Show 2.0, and tuning the biggest loser out for good.