Donald Trump tries to declare himself “king” – and misses badly

| 4:00 pm EST February 15, 2020
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The media continues to push the ratings-friendly narrative that Donald Trump’s acquittal has “emboldened” him and now he’s magically unstoppable – even though the facts say something rather different. The latest to try to milk the “emboldened” narrative for website traffic is the New York Times’ Peter Baker, who quoted Ralph Waldo Emerson today while referring to Trump as a “king.”

Declaring anyone a “king” – at time when he as a 40% approval rating and is thus far more likely to be in behind bars a year from now than to be on a throne – is journalistic malpractice. But the panicked hysteria continues unabated, and if nothing else, Baker’s ratings-driven stunt did bait Trump into making a fairly stupid mistake. Trump tweeted this today:

“Ralph Waldo Emerson seemed to foresee the lesson of the Senate Impeachment Trial of President Trump. ‘When you strike at the King, Emerson famously said, “you must kill him.’ Mr. Trump’s foes struck at him but did not take him down. A triumphant Mr.Trump emerges from the biggest test of his presidency emboldened, ready to claim exoneration, and take his case of grievance, persecution and resentment to the campaign trail.” Peter Baker
@nytimes The Greatest Witch Hunt In American History!

Yep, the idiot just referred to himself as a “king.” It doesn’t matter that was quoting someone else who was quoting someone else. He still used the word in reference to himself, meaning it can be used against him. Coming out of acquittal, the most dangerous thing Donald Trump could have done would have been to suddenly start talking and acting normal. That’s something that could potentially have boosted his approval rating and finally gotten him into 2020 contention. Instead we’ve got Trump saying things that will only serve to turn off those who haven’t yet made up their minds whether or how to vote in 2020. For Trump, this was a narcissistic swing and a miss.