If Donald Trump Trips in the Woods, Does It Make a Sound?
The electorate is still not fully paying attention to his legal and political defeats
In past election years, I never understood how people could wait until Labor Day to start caring about an election since there is so often so much at stake. But in 2024, when there seems to be more at stake than ever, the malaise has set in. We’re nine years into the Trump era of politics, and while the man could once legitimately boast about generating clicks and ratings, he’s now ratings-repellant. He has his base, of course, but if there’s one thing that Donald Trump can crow about as an achievement, it’s been his ability to generate enormous apathy in the rest of the electorate.
Digital publishing has taken a hit in recent years. While Trump might argue that layoffs at legacy media and the shuttering of online outlets result from Trump being out of office, it’s quite the opposite. The man has been out of office for three years, and the political news cycle still revolves around him, but it mostly feels like the 11th season of The Walking Dead. As in, “Is this show still on?” There are too many criminal indictments to keep up with, too many civil trials to wrap our heads around, and too many Truth Social derangements to follow. The Trump-Biden rematch has killed political news; worse still, advertisers don’t want to place ads on toxic political articles.
Not that apathy with the news cycle has led to complete indifference: Voters will still turn up in record numbers this November to either vote for or against Trump, but those votes are primarily based on information gained before Inauguration Day 2021. There are no undecided voters. There is little new to learn about the candidates. There are only activated voters and those who will stay home. Let’s hope that more come out to reject him than to elect him for another term.
Joe Biden, of course, has some say in the matter. As his polls slowly improve along with the economy, Trump and the Republicans are trying to prevent further momentum. Their latest strategy is to reject the very immigration bill they demanded because it might look good for Joe Biden to sign such a bill. They set a trap for Joe Biden and the Democrats and then caught their foot caught in it. James Lankford, the Republican who negotiated the bill, may even vote against it, especially now that Trump claims he didn’t endorse Lankford in 2022, though Trump is lying.
It has presented an opening for Biden, who can call out Trump for rejecting the very bill the Republicans — and their constituents — demanded. “Every day between now and November, the American people are going to know that the only reason the border is not secure is Donald Trump and his MAGA Republican friends,” Biden said today. “It’s time for Republicans in Congress to show a little courage, to show a little spine, to make it clear to the American people that you work for them, not for anyone else.” Donald Trump has driven the clown car straight into the barricade.
The Republicans, it is clear, are more interested in playing politics than passing legislation, which is also why they are set to vote tonight on whether to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorka. It’s unclear if the Republicans even have the votes. They can only lose three, and two Republicans have already announced that they will not vote to impeach.
In the meantime, Trump strongly insinuates that he will ask Ronna McDaniel, chairwoman of the Republican Party, to step aside from that role next month. He holds her responsible for the party's failures since 2018 because he’s incapable of blaming the person most responsible for those failures: Donald Trump. Why blame himself when there is a woman around to blame?!
Elsewhere, a federal appeals court has ruled that Presidents cannot be immune from criminal activities they engage in while President, meaning that the criminal case against Donald Trump for subverting the 2020 election will tentatively move ahead, pending a decision by the Supreme Court. However, the nation’s highest court might decide to avoid getting into a political fight, reject the appeal, and let the decision stand.
Finally, Tucker Carlson announced that he will interview Vladimir Putin. “We are not here because we love Vladimir Putin. We are here because we love the United States, and we want it to remain prosperous and free,” he announced in a promo video for the interview. It sounds like “we are here” because Tucker Carlson is desperately trying to maintain a hold on his relevancy as it continues to fade. He is one Alex Jones away from being a guest on Bill O’Reilly’s podcast.
I'm curious if one (or *the*) reason why the RNC's bank account is so depleted is because somehow Trump funneled money out of it.
"There are no undecided voters. There is little new to learn about the candidates. There are only activated voters and those who will stay home. Let’s hope that more come out to reject him than to elect him for another term."
Biden recently commented that Trump is the only candidate that he's seen in his lifetime that isn't "for" anything. He's against everything. And I think that in a nutshell is why people aren't going to come out and vote for him in November.
The people voting for Trump aren't voting for HIM. If they're voting at all, it's because they want to annoy Democrats. Granted, a lot of Republicans have been dedicated to that cause for a long time. But it just doesn't feel like enough this time around between two incumbent candidates.