Folks, I almost spilled my coffee reading this one. President Donald Trump’s personal behavior has been, well, pretty remarkable over the last 12 days, especially with the midterm election around the corner. He’s been making headlines with his, shall we say, interesting conduct, and I’m not sure if he’s trying to distract us from the real issues or just being his usual self.
I mean, where do I even start? He’s offered voters what some Republicans are calling a bribe, threatened to withhold disaster aid from a state if it doesn’t elect a GOP senator, and told a dubious story about his proximity to Ground Zero on 9/11. He’s also baselessly suggested Democrats conspired to kill him, threatened to halt all foreign trade, and is holding the future of the Kennedy Center hostage if judges don’t allow him to put his name on it. And now, he’s denying certain media outlets, including CNN, access to the White House. You can’t make this stuff up, folks.
Polling in recent months has shown that Americans are losing faith in Trump’s leadership capabilities. A whopping 67% of Americans said he doesn’t carefully consider important decisions, and 71% said he’s not “even-tempered.” And more than 7 in 10 adults and registered voters said he doesn’t even have a plan for the Iran war. It seems like Trump is doing very little to disabuse people of these notions, and instead, is upping the antics ahead of the midterm election.
Trump’s offer of $5,000 to every adult US citizen if Republicans keep their House and Senate majorities is certainly a quid pro quo. Registered voters say 66%-18% that it’s “inappropriate.” And his joke-y threat to withhold disaster aid from North Carolina if it elects a Democratic senator is also eyebrow-raising. Trump said he was kidding, but his track record makes clear his administration has discriminated against blue states on such things.
His tale ahead of the 9/11 anniversary about firefighters carrying him away amid fears of a building collapse was unconfirmed and misleading at best. And to the extent the story is embellished, it sounds a lot like the president stealing valor. Trump also claimed this week that the 2024 assassination attempt against him in Butler, Pennsylvania, was “a Democrat Plot, to get me out of the Election” — an explosive claim, if there were any truth to it. But there remains no evidence that any Democrats were involved, and he didn’t provide any more detail.
Trump repeatedly threatened to halt large portions of US foreign trade, including with all countries with whom the US has a trade deficit, if the Federal Reserve doesn’t lower interest rates. That logic makes no sense, folks. And by Friday, Trump suddenly announced he was “banning” CNN, MS NOW, and Politico from the White House “effective immediately,” catching even some of his own staff off guard.
Some of the other examples of Trump’s behavior are a little more small-bore, but curious nonetheless. Trump on Tuesday suggested the Supreme Court justices he nominated might have misrepresented their intentions, saying that they were “not the people I interviewed” and “are merely a shell of their original selves.” He broke with longstanding US foreign policy protocol by praising the prospect of the reunification of Ireland. And he called concerns about AI safety a “hoax” despite large swaths of Americans being quite concerned about that topic.
And finally, Trump has spent much of this week angling for a way to force the courts to let him put his name on the Kennedy Center, despite that being apparently illegal. Trump is now explicitly suggesting he might let the institution wither and die if he doesn’t get what he wants. Bless their hearts, it seems like a long time ago, but the talk during Trump’s first term was often about his “temperament” and his tweets. His conduct has surely desensitized Americans to some degree.
In conclusion, it’s been a wild ride watching Trump’s antics over the last 12 days. With the midterm election around the corner, you’d think he’d want to rein in his behavior and focus on the issues that matter to Americans. But instead, he’s upping the ante, and it’s anyone’s guess how this will all play out. As I sit here sipping my coffee, I can only shake my head and wonder what’s next. Somewhere in Atlanta, a producer thought this sounded terrifying, but to me, it’s just another day in the world of Trump. 🙄
Armchair patriot. Believes in the free market, cold beer, and that there’s always a guy named George behind every CNN segment.
Former remote-throwing champion turned #1 couch commentator on liberal panic in the media. Born in Texas (or so his mug says), he earned a degree in Fake Newsology & Beer Philosophy from YouTube University.
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