General Mattis may have stumbled onto something
Last night retired General James Mattis spoke at the Al Smith dinner, where the speeches are expected to be humorous, and he ripped into Donald Trump something fierce. Mattis humorously pushed back against Trump’s recent assertion that Mattis is an “overrated” General. Mattis also made fun of Trump for having faked bone spurs to avoid military service. Mattis has taken some heat for this, but he may be onto something here.
Various observers have chided General Mattis for going after Donald Trump in humorous fashion during a punchline-filled speech, after having repeatedly declined to condemn Trump in more serious terms in formal settings. They have a point in that Mattis certainly could have been more outspoken in recent months, when numerous other former Trump officials – including other military types – have condemned Trump’s anti-American behavior.
But just yesterday we saw retired Admiral William McRaven publish a very serious and very authoritative takedown of Donald Trump in the New York Times – and it appeared to have zero impact on Trump’s fate. It got a lot of attention from those who already stand against Trump, but it’s difficult to imagine that it caused even a single Trump supporter to turn against Trump. Why?
Donald Trump has accomplished nothing and benefited no one during his disastrous reign. At this point anyone still supporting him is only doing so because they like that he’s a bully and a jerk. When Trump craps all over society, his supporters see it as vengeance for the fact that their own lives didn’t turn out the way they wanted. When someone like Admiral McRaven lays out what a monster Trump is, his supporters blow it off because they don’t care what a monster he is.
But if Donald Trump’s remaining supporters are still hanging in there with him because they love that he’s a bully who “wins” the petty feuds he embarks on, what happens when a military General starts throwing out punchlines about what a loser Trump is? If Trump’s fans come to see him as a loser, or as a weakling who’s being made fun of by military leaders, then just maybe it’ll erase the one disgusting reason they were still supporting him.
We’re not sure if James Mattis went into his speech last night with this kind of gameplan in mind, or if he merely took a humorous approach because that’s what you’re supposed to do at the Al Smith dinner. But either way, we think the General may have stumbled onto something. You will not turn anyone in Trump’s base against him by warning them about what a powerful monster he is. You might be able to deflate his base by exposing him as a weak punchline who isn’t up to the task of bringing their deranged revenge fantasies to life.
