The other day, when campaigning in South Carolina on behalf of Lindsey Graham's sister, he made a plea to his supporters for the Mid-Terms, explaining that he knows people say many in their party don't vote unless Trump is on the ballot -- "“So what I really want you to do is pretend, please, that I’m on the ballot!"
My immediate reaction was how great it was to hear him say this, because it showed how terribly Trump knew how much trouble MAGOPs were in for the Mid-Terms. And he had nothing else to offer to his very own base -- no policies, no plans, no real successes, no end to his Iran War, so solutions to inflation and high prices, nothing -- other than "pretend" that he was on the ballot. Indeed, it was a plea he even repeated in an interview on Sunday Fox, "I'm asking the people to get out and vote, pretend I'm on the ballot."
But over the weekend, I realized something else beyond just that. This wasn't rare, desperate plea from Trump to his base. It is the exact same desperate plea Trump has made to his base since he first ran for office. Because he has nothing to offer. So...pretend.
Pretend that he will self-finance his campaign. Pretend that he has investigators in Hawaii with evidence that Barack Obama wasn't born in the U.S. Pretend that he built his real estate empire on a loan of less than a million dollars from his father, rather than $60 million in paternal loans he never repaid. Pretend that he alone can fix everything. Pretend that he's a great businessman despite six bankruptcies. Pretend that he's got the best memory. Pretend that he's the best at everything he does. Pretend that he really was good enough to play major league baseball. Pretend he's an expert on economics. Pretend all news he doesn't like is actually "fake." Pretend that he won the 2020 election.
Pretend that he is the least prejudiced person in the world. Pretend that no one has done more for Black people than anyone than him. Pretend that no one has done more for the Jewish people than anyone than him. Pretend that he loves America. Pretend that he loves Israel. Pretend he loves the military. Pretend that he cares about his base. Pretend he respects women. Pretend that he cares about anyone or anything other than himself. Pretend that his use of violence by ICE, his xenophobia against minorities and anyone different, and his efforts to undermine trust in other institutions of authority isn't textbook fascism.
Pretend that Melania will be holding a press conference about her immigration status in two weeks. Pretend that he'll have a new health care program in two weeks. Pretend he'll end Russia's war against Ukraine in two weeks. Pretend he'll be making an announcement on infrastructure plans in two weeks. Pretend that he'll have very surprising results of a wiretapping investigation of President Obama in two weeks.
Pretend that he'll lower prices on Day One. Pretend that he only wants to be a dictator on Day One. Pretend that he can draw a Sharpie on a U.S. Weather Service map to change the direction of a hurricane. Pretend he can rename the Gulf of Mexico . Pretend he can rename Lake Ontario. Pretend that he's from God. Pretend that JFK will come back to life and run on a ticket with him.
Pretend that he barely knew Jeffrey Epstein. Pretend it's okay to accept a $400 billion airplane as a personal gift from Qatar. Pretend it's okay he pardoned 1,600 Insurrectionists. Pretend it's okay he pardoned the Honduran drug lord president convicted for conspiring to smuggle 400 tons of cocaine into the U.S. and sentenced to 45 years in prison. Pretend that he's against drugs by bombing Colombian fishing boats. Pretend his 34 felony convictions was a fraud. Pretend that his adjudication for sexual abuse, which the judge wrote was the equivalence of rape, was a fraud. Pretend that his being found guilty in court for fraud was a fraud.
Pretend that other countries are who pay tariffs, not American taxpayers. Pretend that building a White House ballroom won't cost taxpayers anything. Pretend that the White House needs a ballroom. Pretend that it was vandals who ruined the Reflecting Pool's new paint job. Pretend that Canada will become the 51st state. Pretend that we will buy Greenland. Pretend that all the problems of his administration are the fault of President Biden and President Obama.
Pretend that he saw people jumping from the Twin Towers on 9/11, even though he said he was at home when the planes hit four miles away. Pretend he sawing Muslims In New Jersey cheering the Towers collapse. Pretend he said he cleared rubble at Ground Zero with first responders.
Pretend that he didn't say "I’m going to be working for you, I’m not going to have time to go play golf." Pretend that he's in great physical shape and could live until he's 200. Pretend that he's not sleeping during public events but just resting his eyes. Pretend that when he dances at a Town Hall event for 30 minutes without taking questions is normal. Pretend that he isn't a malignant narcissist. Pretend that he doesn't have dementia. Pretend that when he makes up stories that the people named in them say never happened and he keeps repeating them isn't confabulation, a sign of dementia. Pretend that when he loses his train of thought and constantly changes subjects, that isn't "weaving" but tangentiality, a sign of dementia. Pretend that when he makes up nonsense words when he can't remember the ones he want to say, that isn't paraphasia, a sign of dementia.
Pretend that he's on the ballot.
It's all he's ever asked of his supporters. Why stop now?
