Trump should have known better
Sociopathic bullies like Donald Trump get ahead for one reason alone: they’re able to manipulate situations in their favor by identifying leverage they can use against any given person. It’s often simply a matter of knowing which buttons to push – and being deranged enough to push them.
That was an accurate description of Donald Trump a few years ago. He’s still very much trying to play this same sociopathic game. But it’s not working as well these days, because he’s no longer who he used to be. He’s clearly slipping in the cognitive department. We see it in nearly every one of his public appearances. The guy often barely knows where he’s at. So maybe it shouldn’t come as a surprise that he just screwed up as badly as he did.
When NFL quarterback Drew Brees doubled down on his stance against kneeling during the National Anthem this week, he received so much pushback from his fellow athletes – from LeBron James to Aaron Rodgers – that he ended up backing down and apologizing. We have no way of knowing if Brees truly means it, but he’s made clear that he’s choosing his teammates and his career over his personal feelings about kneeling.
Donald Trump should have been able to figure out that he no longer had any leverage this issue, and dropped it. Instead he called out Drew Brees for backing down. In response, Brees posted a lengthy letter addressed to Trump, telling him that he’s finally concluded that kneeling has nothing to do with the flag, and telling Trump to move on.
Trump should have known better. Whether you believe in the sincerity of what Brees is saying, Trump just forced Brees to choose between Trump and football, and Brees chose football. This isn’t remotely surprising. Trump simply had no leverage in this matter – yet he tried to apply leverage anyway. The bullies who don’t know how to pick their shots are the bullies who lose. Trump just goaded a potential ally in Brees into standing up against him. Trump is slipping awfully badly not to have seen this one coming.
