Trump's utterly muted response to the death of George Floyd while in police custody in Minneapolis - including a photo shoot of Trump holding a Bible outside of St. John's Church in Washington - has been widely criticized, including by many senior officials former officials of the White House. "Donald Trump is the first president in my life who doesn't try to unite the American people - doesn't even pretend to try," said former Defense Secretary James Mattis earlier this month. "Instead, he's trying to divide us."
Another former Trump administration official, national security adviser John Bolton, has come out with a memoir from his stay in the White House that suggests, among other things, that Trump sought help from the Chinese president in his race in the 2020 re-election and that he apparently approved the use of concentration camps by China. Bolton, in an interview with ABC News, said that Trump was not "fit for the job" and lacked "the skill to do the job".
This series of body shots severely compromised Trump's chances of winning a second term. Its approval rating collapsed in the past month in a Gallup poll. The latest CNN national poll shows Trump is 14 points behind former Vice President Joe Biden. Swing-State polls show similar widening gaps between Biden and Trump.
Add it all and you get this: in a roller coaster presidency, it's the lowest Trump that has ever been.
And that even takes into account his indictment! Why? Unlike his removal from the House of Representatives earlier this year, Trump's actions in the past month (or so) have led to a decrease in his support rather than a rallying effect within his base.
It is too early to declare Trump's presidency over - 138 days before the November election - but there is no doubt that he faces longer chances than ever in his attempt to win a second term.
As he does so often when faced with facts he doesn't like, Trump turns to favorable opportunities - and Twitter - to seek to create his own reality.
"If you look at the polls, we are way ahead of Sleepy Joe in terms of enthusiasm," Trump told Fox News Sean Hannity in a telephone interview Wednesday evening. "We have an enthusiasm like they have never seen before. And Joe has the weakest enthusiasm ever." (Um no.)
Regarding the coronavirus, Trump said, "I don't even like to talk about it because it disappears. It will disappear." (This week, 10 states reported their highest number of coronavirus cases since the start of the pandemic.)
After the DACA Supreme Court ruling on Thursday, Trump tweeted this:
"These horrible and politically charged decisions coming out of the Supreme Court are shotgun explosions in the faces of people who are proud to be called Republicans or Conservatives. We need more judges or we will lose our 2nd. Amendment and everything else. Vote Trump 2020! "He then added in a later tweet, "Do you feel like the Supreme Court doesn't like me?" (Trump has appointed two judges - Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court. Chief Justice John Roberts and Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito have also been appointed by the Republican presidents.)
In a Wall Street Journal interview published Thursday afternoon, Trump appears to take credit for drawing attention to Juneteenth, a day of commemoration commemorating the official end of slavery in the United States.
"I did something good: I made Juneteenth very famous," said Trump. "It's actually an important event, an important moment. But no one had ever heard of it." (Forty-seven states and the District of Columbia celebrate the Juneteenth as a holiday.)
Trump's retirement from an alternate reality, however, will not change the real reality. No matter how many tweets he sends or how many worshiping fans he takes to an indoor arena in Tulsa on Saturday, the facts are: Trump is not only facing the worst political prospects of his presidency, but he also faces signs of revolt from within his own party and even among those he once relied on as trusted advisers.
Trump likes to emphasize that he does his best when all is chaos around him and when people count it. Now is his chance to prove it - because digging into the hole he made for himself will be a huge task.
