Donald Trump flames out in pathetic “campaign” speech
It’s one of the more consistent trends throughout history: the more powerless and irrelevant someone becomes, the more hyperbolic they become with their threats, and thus the emptier those threats become. But they’re hoping that by ramping up the dramatics, they can startle the world into taking them seriously again – or at least defiantly convince themselves that it’s not really over for them.
With Donald Trump on the verge of being criminally indicted by the Fulton County District Attorney, the Department of Justice, and the Manhattan District Attorney, he knows he’s toast. Moreover, the public is on the verge of figuring out that he’s toast. It’s a big part of why Trump is very loudly pretending he’s running a 2024 campaign. It doesn’t matter that his campaign essentially only exists on paper. It only matters that he make so much noise that he can’t be ignored. And that involves being as controversial and hyperbolic as possible.
It’s why Trump used a speech on Presidents’ Day to announce that when he somehow magically takes power in 2024, the Department of Education and the Department of Justice(!!!) will somehow take over the disciplining of students. Of course that’s not even a real thing, it’s just something he made up with the intention of sounding awful. His hope is that his threats are nasty enough, people will be emotionally manipulated into treating his imaginary threats as if they could really happen, which in turn means that people will be giving credence to the notion that Trump could take power in 2024.
But if you’re immune by now to the cheap attempts at emotional manipulation that Donald Trump has been relying on ever since he got booted from office, you know full well that he’s not within a million miles of being on track to be a viable candidate in 2024. People who get indicted in three jurisdictions, get put on multiple criminal trials, and get sent to prison in 2023 don’t usually tend to then be magically available to run for President in 2024.
The kicker is that with unhinged impossible threats like this, Trump is giving away that he knows he’s toast. He’s not talking like someone who’s trying to set himself up to win in 2024. He’s talking like someone who’s simply trying to get as much attention in 2023 as possible, by any ridiculous and embarrassing means possible. Trump isn’t giving campaign speeches. He’s saying ‘please think of me as a candidate so you’ll forget that the criminal justice system is busy ending my future.’ It’s nothing short of pathetic, which is a fitting way for Trump’s fading relevance to end.
