A Smell that Spells the End of a Reign
Can you smell it?
There is a kind of smell that has been emanating from the White House for a few days …
A smell that spells the end of a reign.
Oh, that’s hardly surprising, you might say.
Throughout this presidency, we have witnessed many delusional moments due to the president’s self-destructive behavior.
He has approached the abyss several times ... only to keep moving forward and falling into it! But each time he has ended up climbing back out, almost unharmed.
However, this time there are at least two major differences.
First, there is less than a month left before the presidential election.
Second, the blunders are particularly noticeable, even when measured on the Trump scale (one day we might want to rename the Saffir-Simpson scale, used to assess hurricane intensity, after this Republican president).
These days, while watching journalists present their reports live from Washington, you sometimes imagine that you might see acrobats, tamers and elephants appear behind them.
It's a circus. And it’s all the more noticeable as it clashes with the gravity of the moment: The president of the United States was infected with a virus which, at his age, could be fatal.
But Donald Trump is back at the White House, in great shape, it seems.
And unlike British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who realized the full extent of the pandemic after getting infected, Trump seems to have learned the wrong lesson from his experience.
Not only is he cured, he feels "better than [he] did 20 years ago!" And he is minimizing the threat even more enthusiastically than before. Move along, there’s nothing to see here!
This is 100% pure Trump. He makes a spectacle of himself without worrying about the repercussions of what he says and does.
His impromptu outing in front of his supporters on Sunday was a prime example of this. "The irresponsibility is astounding," said a doctor at the Walter Reed military hospital where the president was being treated.
As usual, the Trump method has been used again.
The president's personal physician, Sean Conley, juggled with the facts instead of setting the record straight. White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, for his part, offered a different public account than the one he gave on condition of anonymity.
It's a circus, my friends. With all its acts!
Not to mention that we learn a little bit more every day about the negligence demonstrated by the president, as the circle of infected people continues to widen.
This freak show, which comes in the wake of a debate labeled a shit show, is not helping to restore his image.
And, as if that wasn't chaotic enough for his liking, on Tuesday he abruptly ended negotiations with the Democrats over a stimulus package deemed necessary to alleviate the economic crisis. Inexplicably.
However, don't expect us to count our chickens before they hatch.
National polls are not too encouraging for Trump, but it is wise to be wary of them. He is still in the running in several crucial states where it counts: Florida, Ohio, North Carolina and even Pennsylvania, despite waning support in the latter state.
The conservative media ecosystem continues to enthusiastically sing the president’s praises. And Republican politicians are not seeking to distance themselves from him.
In short, although we can smell the end of his reign in Washington, Trump still has many allies, staunch supporters, and more than one trick up his sleeve.
The question is whether he will manage to dispel the odor in less than a month.
Each day that passes without him getting his act together makes his task more difficult.
There is a kind of smell that has been emanating from the White House for a few days …
A smell that spells the end of a reign.
Oh, that’s hardly surprising, you might say.
Throughout this presidency, we have witnessed many delusional moments due to the president’s self-destructive behavior.
He has approached the abyss several times ... only to keep moving forward and falling into it! But each time he has ended up climbing back out, almost unharmed.
However, this time there are at least two major differences.
First, there is less than a month left before the presidential election.
Second, the blunders are particularly noticeable, even when measured on the Trump scale (one day we might want to rename the Saffir-Simpson scale, used to assess hurricane intensity, after this Republican president).
These days, while watching journalists present their reports live from Washington, you sometimes imagine that you might see acrobats, tamers and elephants appear behind them.
It's a circus. And it’s all the more noticeable as it clashes with the gravity of the moment: The president of the United States was infected with a virus which, at his age, could be fatal.
But Donald Trump is back at the White House, in great shape, it seems.
And unlike British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who realized the full extent of the pandemic after getting infected, Trump seems to have learned the wrong lesson from his experience.
Not only is he cured, he feels "better than [he] did 20 years ago!" And he is minimizing the threat even more enthusiastically than before. Move along, there’s nothing to see here!
This is 100% pure Trump. He makes a spectacle of himself without worrying about the repercussions of what he says and does.
His impromptu outing in front of his supporters on Sunday was a prime example of this. "The irresponsibility is astounding," said a doctor at the Walter Reed military hospital where the president was being treated.
As usual, the Trump method has been used again.
The president's personal physician, Sean Conley, juggled with the facts instead of setting the record straight. White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, for his part, offered a different public account than the one he gave on condition of anonymity.
It's a circus, my friends. With all its acts!
Not to mention that we learn a little bit more every day about the negligence demonstrated by the president, as the circle of infected people continues to widen.
This freak show, which comes in the wake of a debate labeled a shit show, is not helping to restore his image.
And, as if that wasn't chaotic enough for his liking, on Tuesday he abruptly ended negotiations with the Democrats over a stimulus package deemed necessary to alleviate the economic crisis. Inexplicably.
However, don't expect us to count our chickens before they hatch.
National polls are not too encouraging for Trump, but it is wise to be wary of them. He is still in the running in several crucial states where it counts: Florida, Ohio, North Carolina and even Pennsylvania, despite waning support in the latter state.
The conservative media ecosystem continues to enthusiastically sing the president’s praises. And Republican politicians are not seeking to distance themselves from him.
In short, although we can smell the end of his reign in Washington, Trump still has many allies, staunch supporters, and more than one trick up his sleeve.
The question is whether he will manage to dispel the odor in less than a month.
Each day that passes without him getting his act together makes his task more difficult.
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