Donald Trump wants to piss you off

Swagger, arrogance, egotism – whatever you call it, Donald Trump has taken delusions of grandeur to such heights that he needs a clear reminder: Joe Biden is the President of the United States, and Trump is not.

This sounds like Civics 101, but it’s an important counter-program as Trump runs a fake presidency in “fake it ’til you make it” mode and the narrative of inevitability takes hold.

Trump described his frequent conversations with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who calls him because he “wants my opinion on things,” and he told a rally audience in Pennsylvania that Israel is doing well because “Bibi” doesn’t I’m listening Biden. Elon Musk, Trump’s pal and perhaps future US cost-cutting czar, has been in touch with Netanyahu and Wall Street Journal reports, had “regular contactwith Trump favorite Vladimir Putin from 2022.

It’s uplifting national security issues about Musk’s top-secret security clearance and US government contracts with SpaceXhis astronautical company, as well as his future in a hypothetical Trump administration. But maybe it doesn’t matter. New York Times reports that Trump’s expected team may completely get around the FBI’s role in security screening. Instead, they hired private investigators to conduct background checks during the transition so Trump could immediately give the large group access to classified information. What could go wrong?

At home and with foreign leaders, Trump acts like the big man on campus, pretending that he is in charge. It got to the point where both Biden and Kamala Harris were asked that Trump appears to be “engaging in diplomacy without actually representing the United States.” Biden said he wasn’t surprised. Harris said she not worried.

Unfortunately, the boasting had the intended effect. Political coverage of the race was filled with references to “the current conventional wisdom that Trump will win“, “overconfidence“Mira MAGA”, rights “irrational confidence“, and what one Democrat called ” ok-doc” that this entire election is about “the rage of young white men.”

We have older men – very rich, very powerful –line up reconnect with Trump, improve relations and ensure security promises presidential actions. We have plenty of newspaper and business owners who suddenly go silent due to the President’s endorsement. Given Trump’s constant threats to the media and his actual record in his first term of going after people and companies he doesn’t like, historian Timothy Snyder’s concept of “proactive obedienceI had a moment. “You can’t convince me that this is anything other than worrying about angering Trump and his supporters. They made business decisions,” senior media commentator Tom Jones. said Wednesday in his Poynter Report newsletter.

Of course, it looks exactly like this, especially on Washington Post. Owner Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon and owner of Blue Origin, a space exploration company interested in government contracts, was one of Trump’s top men. goals for the first term. Just hours after the newspaper announced on Friday that it was peak After Harris’ approval and Bezos making the decision, Trump met with Blue Origin executives. Bezos said there was no quid pro quo, even though he acknowledged that “when it comes to conflict, I’m not the ideal owner of The Post.”

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Meanwhile, TRUMP’S BRAVADA works his usual dark magic, creating a false MAGICIAN reality that requires listeners to believe him rather than their own eyes. What racist, misogynisticincredible offensive rally at Madison Square Garden? “The love in that room was breathtaking.” Trump said. “It was like a love fest. A true celebration of love, and it was an honor to be a part of it.”

A few days later in Allentown, Pennsylvania, Trump didn’t bother to apologize or distance himself from a Madison Square Garden rally speaker’s explosive (and unfunny) joke that Puerto Rico was a “floating island of garbage.” “We had a ball” at Madison Square Garden, Trump said. “It was the greatest evening anyone has seen politically.” He also stated that “nobody loves the Latino community and the Puerto Rican community more than I do,” and that he has done more for Puerto Rico than any other president, “by far.”

What’s all this about? Politician is described as “a majority Latino city, home to one of the nation’s largest concentrations of Puerto Ricans, and the battleground state of Pennsylvania, the swing Holy Grail.” And after Trump’s memorable attempt to comfort hurricane-stricken Puerto Ricans by throwing them rolls of paper towels.

Teflon Don strikes again? Or will this campaign against a younger, more disciplined former prosecutor prove to be the kryptonite that will finally neutralize his political superpowers?

Some “Never Trump” Republicans and former Republican allies are trying to shore up trust in the veins of Democrats. Here former Illinois Rep. Joe Walsh this week:

Another former Republican congressman from Illinois, Adam Kinzinger, was a little more prudent:

Former George W. Bush strategist Matthew Dowd advised anxiety to calm down:

MailJennifer Rubin, Mitt Romney fan in 2012, published YouTube video titled “It’s OK, Kamala Will Win.”

For Harris, there is a specific portent in mathematics – the huge gender gap that manifests itself in survey (Harris wins women by double digits) and early voting (Women make up 55 percent of early votes in seven battleground states, compared to 45 percent of men). This disparity is driven by one of the rare promises Trump has managed to keep: ending the nation’s right to legal abortion. Government bans and criminalization of reproductive assistance have led to tragic consequences for women health And life.

However, it remains absolutely break even“Choose your own adventure” competition. University of Virginia analyst Kyle Kondik expressed two conflicting “gut feelings” this week. wondered if we are now in “a silly season where minor changes in the polls end up blown out of proportion and the trust gap between the two parties creates the impression of Trump momentum that is not necessarily based in reality.”

Trump truly is a master of fraud, or more simply put, the illusion of success in both business and politics. But pretending does not always lead to its creation. This time, if we are lucky, it will lead to a loss. The biggest and most beautiful loss anyone has ever seen.

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