Desperate Donald Trump makes the mistake of picking fights he can’t win

| 4:57 pm EDT September 23, 2017
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Donald Trump has essentially been in freefall from the start of his fundamentally compromised presidency. But while he seemed to be picking arbitrary fights out of mere spite early on, he at least had the strategic sense to pick the kind of fights he could win or play to a stalemate. The trouble is, as Trump has collapsed further, he’s increasingly resorted to picking fights he can’t win. Today turned out to be Exhibit A of why this isn’t working for him.

Trump can arguably get away with being in a war of words with someone like deranged North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un. The majority of Americans don’t respect Trump’s buffoonish approach and wish he’d shut up, but no one is exactly lining up to take Kim’s side. Trump may not have even hurt himself by picking a fight with controversial NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick. But Trump took things too far by calling Kaepernick a “son of a bitch” last night, prompting NFL commissioner Roger Goodell to release a statement today condemning Trump. This was remarkable, considering that Goodell is certainly not allied with Kaepernick.

The real trouble for Trump, however, came when he decided to pick a fight with NBA star Steph Curry. After Curry had hinted that he would boycott his championship visit to the White House in protest of Trump’s racism, Trump fired back today by rescinding the invitation. He’s now placed himself on the wrong side of an overwhelmingly popular NBA star. Curry is widely respected and generally free of controversy. Yet Trump has now essentially banned Curry from the White House simply for being black and having opinions.

Worse for Trump, it’s prompted other famous athletes to come out of the woodwork to take sides. Curry’s biggest rival LeBron James came to his defense on Twitter, calling Trump a “bum” in the process. American moderates will think less of Trump for putting himself on the wrong side of athletes like LeBron and Steph, who are widely held in high regard. Even some within Trump’s own base are fans of these players, so it may cause them to think twice. Trump is picking these fights out of mere spite, and it can only go poorly for him.