Donald Trump is (not) ready for his close-up
If election night was a stunning disaster for us, then the transition period that’s followed has been an equally stunning disaster for Donald Trump. He’s already fumbled away the complicity of the Republican Senate with absurd nominations that are falling like dominoes. He’s disappeared in a way that’s led to questions about what’s going on. Trump is, somehow, just a month after winning it all, already in a deep hole of his own making. Now he’s taking a big swing out of desperation.
Trump is coming out of hiding and appearing on Meet The Press this weekend. There’s no telling how this will go. New host Kristen Welker is as disingenuous as previous host Chuck Todd was. Welker will either go hard against Trump or softball him, depending on what she thinks is best for herself and her show, without any consideration for what’s honest or what’s right for the country. We’ll see.
Trump, for his part, can’t possibly be ready for his proverbial close-up. This is the same guy who spent the election cycle canceling one public appearance after another and coming off as haggard and confused in the appearances he did make. Dementia doesn’t get better just because the patient won an election, and while Trump has had a lot of rest lately, his periods of rest weren’t exactly helping his condition down the stretch.
In any case Trump has a lot riding on this Meet The Press interview. In fact the whole thing reeks of desperation. Trump and his babysitters have spent the entire transition period trying to get away with keeping him in hiding and letting his absurd cabinet picks speak for themselves. But that approach has failed so miserably that the balance of power is already shifting sharply away from Trump and toward the Republican Senate before Trump can even get into office.
This interview will be Trump’s best and perhaps only real shot at turning around a disastrous transition period that’s consisted of one self-inflicted wound after another. If Trump somehow manages to come off fairly decently, he might be able to turn around the narrative. But if Trump comes off like, well, Trump, then the transition period is only going to get uglier for him.
