The tipping point

| 9:09 am EDT August 4, 2023
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The other night I had the good fortune to see Tears For Fears at the Hollywood Bowl, and the name of their new album “The Tipping Point” has been rattling around in my head ever since, in terms of how it relates to the current political landscape. Allow me to explain.

Yesterday Donald Trump was arrested and arraigned for the third time this year, and while it was historically significant, the event itself was a non-event. Very few Trump supporters bothered to show up in protest – even fewer than the first time he got arrested.

And while we’ll see big headlines about whatever dollar amount Trump has fundraised in the 24 hours since his latest arrest, his overall fundraising numbers for the most recent quarter are nothing short of pathetic. Trump has been bringing in barely half of what President Joe Biden is bringing in for 2024.

In other words, even Trump’s supporters are now increasingly treating him like he’s irrelevant. They’re not bothering to turn out at all for his arrests and arraignments. And while some will argue that Trump’s supporters are ignoring his arrests because they plan to get revenge in 2024, Trump’s pathetic fundraising numbers suggest that his supporters don’t much care about his 2024 campaign either.

Donald Trump’s singularly devoted base was always what was going to protect him and keep him afloat no matter what. For years we’ve heard panicked hysteria about how Trump’s base could do anything from getting him reelected, to overthrowing the government and reinstalling him. But Trump’s base never had these kinds of magical powers to begin with. And at this point his base just seems tired. Whatever Trump once sparked in these bottom feeders, he’s now pretty far removed from being able to keep it going.

We’re now at the tipping point where Trump is being indicted and arrested, and his base isn’t taking to the streets to save him or funding a campaign to save him. He’s out of gas, washed up, past tense, irrelevant, and they know it. Right wingers are always in search of the next leader who can convince them of the convenient lies they want to believe, and make them feel special about being losers. No one new has come along to take Trump’s place yet, but in the meantime, these right wingers have become fully apathetic about Trump. It’s how you know he’s finished.