How Much Did Trump Bring on Himself?

During what I’ll loosely call the Trump era (2016-present), there are two groups that have tried their mightiest to define the man.  

Group 1 – the haters. They hate Trump with such a passion that he could find a bonafide cure for cancer tomorrow and they’d not give him an ounce of credit. Of course, they believe his recent felony conviction on all 34 counts is entirely justified. They only wish the other trials would turn out with guilty verdicts, and Trump would spend the rest of his golden years rotting in Riker’s Island or some equally undesirable place.  

Group 2 – the lovers. These are the ones the left call the “MAGA-cultists” whose devotion to Trump is such that they believe everything the Newsmax anchors tell them about how persecuted he is. And they believe it also when the anchors intone that Trump is all that’s standing in the way of the mob coming after us, too. That we’re next on the list. I have to admit, there are days like last Thursday when I momentarily start to believe it.

Nevertheless, I’d like to make a few assertions that I hope are more representative of the majority of those who still (probably) plan to vote for Trump this November, assuming he’s still the nominee at that point.

1. Group 1 (haters) in particular seem to think that two aspects of the same person that apparently don’t fit cannot in fact coexist and even align in a good way. For example, isn’t it possible that Trump’s love of America can and does coexist with his massive ego? That his concern for his legacy as a great president can dovetail with his desire to do great things for the country? The haters certainly don’t think so – their firm, unbudging belief is that Trump is first, last, and always out only for himself. You can’t make a dent in their argument by pointing out that he didn’t accept the $400,000 salary for being president – “chump change” for him, they’ll say.
2. Group 2 (lovers) in particular seem to gloss over Trump’s character shortcomings which led to three marriages, numerous affairs including with a notorious porn star (and if you believe his claim he didn’t engage with “Stormy” Daniels, I have a bridge in Brooklyn, etc.). But what may be worse, at least from a political standpoint, is his lack of judgment in the people he picks to do important jobs for him.  
3. I would submit that Michael Cohen, for all of his own credibility problems, still damaged Trump in the recent trial. Remember, Cohen used to be Trump’s go-to guy to troubleshoot and fix his problems. For him to now be such a bitter enemy, and for Trump to have trusted this guy as he once did, does not speak well for either of them.
4. One thing there may be universal agreement about is that Trump, by nature, is unable to keep his mouth shut. During the recent trial, as unjust as the judge’s gag order may have been, I was amazed that Trump stayed out of jail as many times as he violated said order.

Could it be then, that Trump’s character flaws and run-on mouth are at least partly to blame for the fix he’s currently in? Yes, I believe so. I also believe that part of the left’s strategy in “getting” Trump is recognizing these characteristics and using them against him to the maximum extent. Like his so-called “injecting bleach” comment during the pandemic, there are certain things about Trump that just come with being Trump – he can’t shake them and we ignore them at our peril. He’s not very good at playing the political game, let’s face it. He pushes all of the chips in when it would be more prudent to bluff for a while. Let’s just take what he did to Senator Ted Cruz as an example. It’s remarkable to me that Sen. Cruz has come back around to supporting Trump after the “Lyin’ Ted” moniker and the wild accusations from Trump that Cruz’s father was somehow involved in the JFK assassination. Granted, it was the Republican primary and the gloves were off. Still, it either says something about how desperate Cruz believes America’s situation is with Biden, or that Trump can somehow be supported and possibly admired, even if he never apologizes for his crudeness. Maybe both. 

In any event, it looks like we’re going to ride or die with Trump, despite all the attempts by the left to “overthrow” him. All that remains now is wondering whether he can win an election from a prison cell, which if the cultural Marxists get their way will happen. Why not? Enough unbelievable things have happened this year already, what’s one more?