Just over three weeks ago Donald Trump is a new man after being nearly killed at a protest in Pennsylvania—or at least that’s what we’re led to believe. “Getting shot in the face changes a man,” Axios headline reads. on July 15amplify a quote from Who is Tucker Carlson? “His advisers tell us Trump plans to seize the moment by toning down his Trumpian persona,” Axios reported, “and stepping up efforts to unite a volatile America” at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
What America got after many days used to be a quieter Trump, for a short while. Then about an hour later Trump remains the samestoking fears about immigrants and ranting about his grievances. “You know, I’m supposed to be nice. They say, something happened to me when I got shot—I became nice,” he said. speak an audience the following week in North Carolina. “So, if you don’t mind, I won’t be so nice. Okay?” Then a few days later in Minnesota“I want to be nice. They all say, ‘I think he’s changed. I think he’s changed since two weeks ago. Something’s gotten to him.’” Trump continued with the finishing blow: “No, I haven’t changed. I may have gotten worse.”
Trump had the opportunity to reset this summer, but he didn’t take it because, well, he couldn’t. First of all, it’s highly unlikely that any 78-year-old would suddenly change dramatically for the better, but it seems especially unlikely for someone like Trump, whose views stuck in the 1950s and his Cultural references in the 1980sEven the gravity of the presidency could not change him, although the experts sometimes appearing desperate when he claimed he had finally acted president.
In 2016, Trump was able to ride a mixture of racism, celebrity, charisma, and a lack of voting records to the White House. Now eight years later, and the American people know who Trump is, to the point where they seem to have become desensitized to his absurdity. Trump no longer commands the news cycle, or dominates the airwaves, as he once did.
For example, his ugly attack on Kamala Harris to do “one time” in which she “came out as a black person” was met with the usual disgust in the mainstream press, but not to the extent of incurring intense criticism. free media following such outbursts in 2016. If anything, racist rhetoric is just another data point in the A long history their.
Not to mention, Harris has shut down the whole thing in a few lines“It’s the same old show. Divisiveness and disrespect. And I just want to say, the American people deserve better.” Harris simply reminded voters that Trump can only be Trump and no one else.
The most surprising thing about 2024 is not that Trump is still Trump, but that no one expected anything different.
Just look at Georgia, a key battleground state for Trump and the GOP. Instead of trying to link arms over the weekend with Brian Kemp, The swing state’s popular Republican governor, Trump has criticized him, as well as his wife. Marty. Based on The Washington Post“Trump mocked [Kemp] sarcastically calling him ‘Little Brian’; repeatedly calling him ‘disloyal’; blaming Kemp for Trump being indicted in Georgia by a prosecutor Kemp had criticized; implying Kemp wanted Republicans to lose the election; and arguing that Georgia would have a better crime and economic situation if Kemp were no longer governor.”
While Trump clearly has a personal interest in winning Georgia, his default approach is petty, self-sabotage. He remains angry with Kemp because Georgia election officials won’t “11,780 votes found” to make Trump the winner of the 2020 election. This cycle, he is leading in Georgia by just first%, even though the Republican governor he has been criticizing has 63% approve The ranking is as of June, which in today’s polarized political climate is quite impressive.
Maya Angelou famously said“When someone shows you who they really are, believe them the first time.” Hillary Clinton true that attracted by this quote in 2016 when it came to Trump, but not enough people—or at least in a few key swing states—believed her. Despite electing him, perhaps America wasn’t quite ready for a reality TV president, or didn’t know what to expect. Perhaps voters didn’t fully understand Trump’s shamelessness and self-obsession, or couldn’t imagine how he could break down barriers, subvert norms, and all but overthrow a free and fair election. In 2024, no one should be under any illusions that the Donald Trump who could return to the White House in January will be anything other than Donald Trump.
