The main thing that MAGAs love about Donald Trump is the fact that he’s mean. He punishes people. He takes revenge. Ask Jeff Sessions. Ask Rex Tillerson. Ask half the people in the D.C. phonebook. If Trump can mess with you, he will, just because he can. When he went to Mar-a-Lago, it was expected that he would conduct a reign of terror in exile, lining up primary challengers for anybody who dared to not conduct worship services in his name. And what has happened? Fizzle. Politico:

“Politics is his hobby and he’s having fun with his hobby in between his rounds of golf,” said a former Trump adviser. “His big test is does he run again? Because if he doesn’t, you’ll see people lose interest in the guy in the next hour. As long as he plays the theatrics he’s going to run again, he still garners attention and creates headlines.”

But stripped of a social media platform like Twitter, the former president has had to rely on issuing statements — some mimicking the tone and length of his past tweets — via his post-presidency office or political PAC press lists. So far, he’s issued more than two dozen endorsements and statements since leaving the White House. The more recent ones have bashed Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and sought credit for the current Covid-19 vaccine distribution. […]

The version of Trump that has emerged in the month and a half since he left office is far from the political godzilla many expected him to be. He was supposed to unleash hell on a party apparatus that recoiled when his supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 and declined to fiercely defend him during his second impeachment. Instead, Trump has maintained close ties to GOP officials who have committed to supporting incumbents, stayed almost entirely out of the spotlight, delivered fairly anodyne remarks the one time he emerged, and offered only sparse criticism of his successor, Joe Biden. […]

“There is no apparatus, no structure and part of that is due to a lack of political understanding on Trump’s behalf,” said a person close to the former president, noting that Trump has struggled to learn the ropes of post-presidential politicking.

“It’s like political phantom limbs. He doesn’t have the same political infrastructure he did three months ago as president,” added GOP strategist Matt Gorman, who previously served as communications director for the National Republican Congressional Committee.

The GOP is a rudderless ship right now and keeping Trump at the helm is an idea that waxes and wanes, because 2024 hopefuls are afraid to declare, if in fact Trump is going to run again. And Trump is disinterested and it shows. He’s just puttering around in Florida and all the commentary about how “fantastic” he looks is the desperate sound of his  fluffers trying to convince themselves that something dynamic is actually happening.

I think his niece Mary is right. I don’t think he’s going to run again. And I think his cable TV venture isn’t going to go anywhere until his legal headaches are taken care of and those are just beginning.

It’s going to be an interesting year.

 

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15 COMMENTS

  1. He will keep claiming to stand again at least until 2023/2024 so that he can continue to milk the sheeple for ‘contributions’ to his latest slush fund (as well as charging everyone an arm and a leg by insisting they run everything at one of his ‘clubs’).

    As we used to say about the right wing politicians in Norn Iron “They were always more loyal to the half-crown than the crown” (a half-crown was a pre-decimal coin worth 12 1/2 pence)

    • Assuming he lives that long…dear gods, some of those recent photos of him are ghastly. My mother, who has had her own health crises, is in better shape than him.

    • This would be excellent because he would paralyze the field. Anyone who launched even an exploratory campaign before Trump withdrew definitively would be viewed as a traitor by the base, so anyone who wants serious consideration for the nomination is going to be running to catch up.
      Great for Democrats!

  2. He ‘isn’t going to go anywhere until his legal headaches are taken care of and those are just beginning.’

    Understatement Of The Year.

    ‘The Legal Troubles of Donald J. Trump’ Volume 1 to Volume 250 available soon.

  3. As I read this, I once more think of the Frank Miller/Dave Gibbons graphic novel Give Me Liberty. In it, the main baddie ascends to being head of the United States through a lot of treachery only to watch the whole country break up into seperate fiefdoms which he can do nothing to stop. Another thing that keeps echoing in my head is Shelley’s poem “Ozymandias” as read by Bryan Cranston, my go-to statement on the vanity of pursuing everlasting glory. Former Guy has never been less relevant…let us act accordingly.

  4. That picture of Himself in the tweet makes me wonder what that Brigitte woman was smoking or drinking (or, otherwise, high on) when she tweeted? I could certainly use some of that stuff.

    “Looks fantastic and stronger than ever!”

    BWAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!

    Himself’s shoulders are sagging and he looks positively dumpy, especially compared to the younger, shorter bit of beefcake there. Hell, Himself looks worse compared to the chick in the pink top and black skirt in the background; calling her “chick” might seem disparaging or even disrespectful, but only to real chickens.

    • It’s fine, Joseph. With this crowd, I firmly believe in “do unto them as they have done unto us.” And what they have done to us is put us through hell. They had to know that was coming back to them someday.

  5. May he slip into history’s oblivion, where historians and novelists or playwrights can decide what kind of batshit crazy he was. It’s been a long four years.

  6. Trumpler’s still calling the shots, because Repugnicans are still cowards and sycophants, as proven by the RNC’s recent ass-lick: moving their next big circle-jerk to Mar-a-Lago and paying him for the privilige of sharing his tacky gold-plated White House-in-Exile.

  7. Looks like humpty dumpty with his pants pulled up to his teats. A great shape for an extra large egg. Wonder what year it was the last time he could look down & see his pecker? Some people say a decade at least. We’ll see…actually I sincerely hope not. As Pete Townsend said long ago in Won’t Get Fooled Again…”Let’s forget you better still.”

  8. Somehow, I’m reminded of dried fruit … only in his case he was not removed soon enough from the dryer, so he is crisp and brittle … not just wrinkled and in desperate need of miracle makeup …

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