Slate "Trump's Rallies are a Study in Self Destruction" [View all]
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2020/11/trump-rallies-self-destruction.html
He has attacked his allies, antagonized voters, and dared the majority to vote him out.
By WILLIAM SALETAN
NOV 02, 2020
Joe Biden has spent much of 2020 in his basement. Constrained by COVID-19, and to some extent by age, he has traveled less than any major-party presidential nominee in memory. But Biden has a powerful surrogate: a man who has flown relentlessly across the country, reminding voters at every stop why they must get rid of President Donald Trump.
That man is Donald Trump.
Ive been watching and listening to Trumps rallies for months. Theyre a study in self-destruction. One rule of politics, for instance, is not to raise topics that help your opponent. But Trump cant let go of grievances, so he keeps bringing up his impeachment and the investigation of his ties to Russia. Often, he complains about an ad (based on an Atlantic article) that alleges he called military veterans suckers and losers. Every time he brings it up, thats more exposure for the allegation. At one rally, Trump called attention to a New York Times story on how little he has paid in taxes. At another, he talked about his reputation for stiffing contractors.
Trumps worst issue is the pandemic. Instead of avoiding it, which would be hard enough, he tries to lie his way through it. And the lies he chooses are the most foolish. Every day, as infections, test positivity, and hospitalizations rise, he insists that were rounding the turn and that the pandemic is ending without the vaccine. He looks impervious, because he is. And when Trump blames the media for hyping COVID, COVID, COVID, he underscores his disinterest in the suffering of Americans.
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Ultimately, he retreats to his happy place: reliving, in his mind, election night 2016. He recalls how TV networks declared him the winner in one state after another. He recounts with delight the pain of news anchors who, in his retelling, wept on air. We had so much fun, the tears that were flowing, Trump crowed at rally in Wisconsin on Oct. 17. Remember the tears? And thats what his presidency has been about, he explains: lording power over everyone who didnt support him. Im here, and theyre not, he declares triumphantly.
Its an odd way to run for reelection. First you get elected while losing the popular vote. Then you attack your allies, antagonize many of your voters, disgust everyone else, and dare the majority to vote you out. Im running against the worst candidate in the history of presidential politics, says Trump. And hes right, because the man hes running against is himself.