Donald Trump’s summer from hell is about to lead to a fall
Now that summer is at its official end, the Washington Post is giving us a rundown of Donald Trump’s summer, which has two opposite takes. His aides are claiming “victory,” while most of us see it as WaPo describes it: incompetence and intolerance.
While those remaining in the White House continue to try to change the narrative surrounding Trump, many of his allies and advisers are calling his summer “a lost summer defined by self-inflicted controversies and squandered opportunities.” They refer to his racist attacks against “the Squad,” his characterization of Baltimore as “rat and rodent infested,” and his anti-immigrant rhetoric, which local officials now believe the mass shooter in El Paso copied in his social media posts. Yep. Sounds like a stellar summer.
Residents of both El Paso and Dayton commented on Trump’s lack of empathy and his ability to repeatedly turn the conversation to himself. In El Paso, for example, immediately after greeting hospital workers, he mentioned his rally there and how his crowd was larger than Beto O’Rourke’s. Really? This man has no capacity for empathy. He is a classic narcissist, bringing us to his low approval rating, which according to WaPo, has now dropped to 41%.
Many of Trump’s aides and allies fail to understand how Trump could waste the opportunity, while Congress was recessed, to do something — anything — toward his reelection campaign. When you look at how Trump behaves when “supporting” grieving families and his reaction to negative news coverage, his narcissism is clear. Seeing how low his approval numbers are, you might think he would be doing something to raise them. But in all honesty I think Trump, a textbook narcissist, believes he’s going to be reelected regardless of those numbers. He likely tells himself that the “fake media” is merely trying to get the best of him, but in his mind, he is the best president ever and everyone loves him. How could they not? He’s so awesome — in his mind anyway.
Comments from Congresswoman Veronica Escobar of El Paso fortify these perceptions of Trump: “We didn’t understand how he could ruin such a profound moment of grief … The president of the United States has dehumanized people of color and immigrants … He has an obligation to rehumanize. It takes more than showing up. It takes a dialogue with the community. It takes true remorse.”
Sadly, no one will ever witness remorse from Donald Trump. Hopefully, he won’t do any hard work toward winning reelection. He has to do nothing to spur his base, but he’s going to need far more than that to win reelection. He is already net-negative in all of the swing states, and he has even lost an incredible amount of support in Florida, North Carolina, and even Georgia, one of the redder states in the south.
We should all hope that Donald Trump doesn’t wake up any time soon, and continues to believe himself invincible, as that will be his downfall. People — including members of his own staff according to WaPo — are weary. Good. We are all so very weary of these antics and hope for a real leader to move us forward.
Shirley is a former entertainment writer and has worked in the legal field for over 25 years