Trump: Delusional or Crazy as a Fox?

Delusional, I would say.

He certainly acts delusional. “Every poll says I won the debate…by a lot,” Trump pronounced following the dust-off against Kamala. Other than Trump sycophants at Fox, relatively few people believe he won the debate. Indeed, none of the professional polling organizations found that Trump had prevailed. Professional polling organizations that rely on well-established sampling protocols found that Kamala Harris came out of the debates well ahead of Trump. For example, Reuters, YouGov, and the Harris Poll (not related to candidate Harris) found that Kamala Harris had clearly bested Trump in the eyes of the public. The SSRS opinion panel also found that Harris was the clear winner of Turesday’s debate.

His performance in the matchup with Vice President Kamala Harris was a breathtaking disaster of a debate for Trump. That’s why the former President has announced that he will not debate her again, even though he referred to the debate as “his best ever.” Harris was the skilled debater last Tuesday, always looking her opponent in the eye as she parried with him.

Nonetheless, for various reasons, Trump’s performance at the debate was quite instructive. That a serious voter would contemplate returning him to the Oval Office is interesting, if not alarming. I am not referring to die-hard Maga Republicans who will vote for Trump no matter what because their loyalty to him won’t let them vote for Harris or any other Democrat, for that matter. Trump, who once referred to himself as a stable genius, seems to go to great lengths to demonstrate that he is neither stable nor a genius.

Trump was quite prepared to face off with an impaired Joe Biden, but he seems frozen in amber ever since Kamala Harris became his opponent. In true Trumpian fashion, he belittled her when she became the Democratic nominee for President. Harris was the far more impressive debater, although it didn’t take much last Tuesday to appear impressive compared to former President Trump. He was petulant, wouldn’t look at her during their face-off, and came to the debate unrehearsed and unprepared, which showed. Trump still seems to believe that name-calling, half-truths, and untruths can propel him to the White House.

He looked confused and spoke in absurdities at the debate. “In Springfield, they’re eating dogs,” the former president said, referring to an Ohio city dealing with an influx of Haitian immigrants. “They’re eating the cats. They’re eating … the pets of the people that live there. And this is what’s happening in our country, and it’s a shame.” Of course, the real shame is that reference to immigrants eating people’s cats and dogs is simply not true, as Ohio officials quickly pointed out.

Watching the former President lash out at Vice President Harris during the debate reminded me of Captain Queeg as he lost it in the film Cain Mutiny. There really is a Queeg-like quality to Trump’s behavior. Listen to Alyssa Farrah Griffin, Trump’s former communications director, as she recounted in detail what happened when Trump supporters stormed the Capitol:

"That night, Donald Trump announced his victory, and he claimed that there was major fraud. That night, I left the White House before this infamous speech. I didn't want to participate in the spiral that was coming. Did he have proof for such claims? No, absolutely not. I think he knew he had lost. I think he's incapable of admitting defeat. He needed a strong narrative to tell that the election had been stolen from him so as not to be seen as a loser. So as not to admit to himself and his supporters that he had lost."

Griffin’s judgment that she thinks Trump is incapable of admitting defeat deserves careful reflection. I think she might be right about that. And if she is, that reality is a pathology and not just a display of obstinance. If Trump is incapable of admitting defeat, everyone who reveres the American tradition of the peaceful transfer of power should be concerned—very concerned.

Then there is the matter of the criminal conviction for which he is to be sentenced shortly after the election. The scheme to obscure the purpose of hush money payments to Stormy Daniels was memorialized in writing and in exquisite detail and presented to Trump by his fixer, Michael Cohen. That scheme, as presented to Trump, was later presented to the Jury that handed down the guilty verdict and is now part of the public record.

Between an inability to admit defeat and the stark reality of his forthcoming criminal sentencing, currently scheduled to be handed down shortly after the election, there is a lot about which Donald Trump has to be concerned. It is hard to imagine Trump admitting defeat when so much is riding on his possible return to the Oval Office. Donald Trump’s inference that he would be a dictator, albeit only on day one of his administration, were he to be elected was both a curious and troubling statement. It is probably safe to assume that Donald J. Trump places a high priority on winning the White House to checkmate any sentencing pertaining to the guilty verdict handed down at his trial for criminal election interference. It is not only his ego that depends on an election victory in November, but possibly his freedom as well.

 Please share our weekly commentary with others.

Of Thee I Sing 1776. Subscribe here:

https://oftheeising1776.substack.com/subscribe.

Recent podcasts have featured my commentary on Liz Cheney’s book, “Oath and Honor,” as well as my commentaries regarding:

U.S. Representative Jim Jordan,

Brian Kemp and Those Republicans of Georgia,

The Trump Indictments,

The Fox Corp Settlement,

The CNN Trump Town Hall,

The Hunter Biden plea deal,

The New American Cult of Personality,

and my interviews with William Bratton, Retired Chief of Police in New York City, Los Angeles, and Boston.

Rikki Klieman, Attorney, Network News Analyst, and best-selling author;

John Thoresen, Executive Director, Barbara Sinatra Children’s Center;

Katherine Gehl, co-author of The Politics Industry and founder of the Institute for Political Innovation,

Jazz artist Ann Hampton Callaway,

Outlander author Diana Gabaldon,

AI Data Scientist Lawrence Kite,

Ryan Clancy, Chief Strategist of No Labels,

Senator Barbara Boxer,

Senator Joe Lieberman,

and Maryland Governor Larry Hogan.

Please consider our Of Thee I Sing 1776 Premium option. While my weekly column is always free, for just $5/month, you’ll receive my annual ebook, “Essays For Our Time,” and my new Podcasts.

Subscribe here: https://oftheeising1776.substack.com/subscribe.