Where’s Trump?
When Donald Trump came out of the debate with a little bit of momentum, he didn’t even try to capitalize on that momentum. Instead he mostly disappeared. The media told us that Trump was laying low because he didn’t want to get in the way of the media’s desire to keep beating up on President Biden. But this explanation made no sense. Trump never was more than a point or two ahead of Biden in the polling averages, and needed to be out on the trail. Instead he was in hiding.
Now that Kamala Harris is the Democratic nominee instead of Biden, she’s quickly pulling slightly ahead of Trump in poll after poll. Yet Trump is still mostly nowhere to be found. Harris is barnstorming the nation, talking to all kinds of audiences in numerous swing states, and drawing large enthusiastic crowds. Trump is behind in terms of momentum, polls, and fundraising, and needs to be out there on the campaign trail. Yet he’s not. And we all know why.
In Trump’s highest profile public appearance of late, he harassed a Black interviewer in front of a Black audience, and then claimed Kamala Harris isn’t Black. In the handful of rallies Trump has done since Harris entered the race, Trump has mostly babbled about sharks and batteries and cannibals.
Trump is old, feeble, and lethargic, so he can’t be on the campaign trail very much. His babysitters are trying to pick his spots for him with high profile appearances like the National Association of Black Journalists, but when Trump gets on a stage that big, he craps the bed.
Trump’s people can’t have him out there on the campaign trail daily because he can’t function at that level. Nor can they limit him to specific high profile appearances, because he somehow does even worse in those moments. Trump is in the fight of his life. He’s losing this election, and he’s going to prison if he does lose it. Yet instead of being out there fighting for his life, he’s mostly playing dead. No wonder he’s so obsessed with electrocution and sharks and cannibals. It’s a metaphor for his dying candidacy.
Bill Palmer is the publisher of the political news outlet Palmer Report