Before I get into the piece, I want to give a shout out to RFK Jr.’s new food show. Anti-vax man will be joined by chef and Fox News contributor Andrew Gruel for “The Real Food Show,” a purportedly healthy cooking show. Rumor has it that Kennedy was hoping to combine a show about cars and cooking called: “Road Kill.” The concept was that Kennedy would drive around until he found some road kill and then would create a yummy dish. out of it The first episode was to feature “Raccoon Penis Provencal.” (Hopefully not the one he cut off in 2001 with his kids sitting in the car.) Wiser minds prevailed and the concept got the kibosh.
Now to the piece.
The Don ‘s recent poll numbers are devastating. Some have him at a 33 percent approval rating, that’s where Nixon was 2 days before he left office because of the Watergate Scandal. Of course, he denies their veracity, creating his own delusional reality.
In typical fashion, The White House ignored the polls. Davis Ingle, a White House spokesman boasted: “No other president in history has accomplished more for hard-working Americans than President Trump, who is working tirelessly to create jobs, cool inflation, increase housing affordability, and more, the president has already made historic progress not only in America but around the world, and this is just the beginning as his agenda continues taking effect.”
Needless to say all the above is bullshit, another version of the opposite game. I don’t know about you, but given the disaster of his presidency, I can’t wait for him to continue his great work in making himself richer and richer, building a ballroom while people can’t afford food and being out-foxed in his war of choice with Iran.
Here are some statements reflecting The Don’s own magical thinking about his poll numbers.
“Polls are very dishonest, just like a lot of reporters,” he told journalists during a news conference at the Group of 7 summit in France in June. A week later, he made his claim that his approval ratings were “THE HIGHEST THEY HAVE EVER BEEN” on his social media site.
Two days later, on June 26, he cited a survey conducted by his own pollsters putting his approval rating at 50 percent. Not satisfied with that, he then gave himself another 15 points. “Other Polls have my Approval Rating at 65%, and more!” he wrote. “Like Journalists, Honest Pollsters are very rare and hard to find!”
On August 3rd he wrote: “My REAL Polling Numbers, not those made up by the Fake News Media, are the best they have ever been.”
Did I miss something? Did gas prices go down to $2.50; did the war in Iran end with the U.S. preventing the Iranians from getting a nuclear weapon; did food costs and inflation drop precipitously over night?
The Don refuses to acknowledge the reality of his situation and the negative impact of his policies on the American people. His narcissism prevents him from ever admitting he made a mistake; it makes it near impossible for him to change course. To admit you need to reverse a policy (tariffs?) means you made a mistake; if you admit a mistake you are a loser. Nobody wants to be around a loser; in his world nothing is worse. Like with so many other lies, distortions and misinformation, The Don believes if he portrays himself as a winner people will see him as one and will stick with him as everyone loves a winner. Remember his old rally cry: “We are going to win so much you will get tired of winning?” People aren’t feeling the winning these days and they are getting tired of losing.
The denial of the facts has risen to the point of absolute absurdity. Introducing Natalie Harp, aka the “Human Printer! And no this isn’t an A.I. bot (though, she could be.) Natalie is a real person whose job it is to follow the president around and literally print out, screenshots of social media posts from allies or fans praising the president, bolstering familiar conspiracy theories, condemning Democrats or insulting The Don’s opponents for the president to review. Harp also creates posts for his Truth Social platform and once he approves them she posts them. Though yet to be officially verified, it seems Harp was involved in the controversial post of The Don as Jesus, oh, I mean the doctor.
Harp, a bone cancer survivor, credits The Don’s healthcare policy, “Right to Try,” with saving her life.* She compared The Don to Jimmy Stewart’s character in “It’s a Wonderful Life”: “I wouldn’t be alive today if it wasn’t for you,” Harp said, at the 2020 Republican convention where she was a spokesperson for the “Right to Try” health policy.
Jimmy Stewart in “It’s a Wonderful Life?” Wow, what movie was she watching? Isn’t Stewart the guy who does everything to help the little guy? Isn’t Stewart the guy who takes the blame for his brother’s mistake (absentmindedly forgetting to deposit money which puts Stewart’s Savings and Loan bank at risk?) Now that’s loyalty. Isn’t Stewart the guy who turns down a lucrative offer from the sniveling and conniving Mr. Potter realizing he was making a deal with the devil? Wasn’t he the guy that felt such guilt and despair over the lost money that he wanted to end his life? Taking care of the little guy, loyalty, can’t be bought, feels shame and guilt. Does anything remind you of The Don? Ms Karp got it all wrong as The Don is Mr. Potter. Greedy. Venal. Malicious. Vengeful. Power hungry. Friendless.
The sad irony is that Harp and others feed him what he wants to hear and furthers his belief that he can do whatever he wants. After all, everyone loves, loves, loves him.
The midterm elections will be The don’s wake -up call. The problem is he won’t believe the results just as he doesn’t believe the polls. The truth is that a part of him knows he and his party are in bad shape-that’s why he has a multi-pronged approach to interfering and invalidating the elections. If he really thought the Republicans were going to win ‘Bigly” he wouldn’t be putting all this energy into disrupting the elections. Meanwhile Harp and his other devotees tell him all is good. All is good in the new Pottersville.
* Medical and news experts, including reporting from The Washington Post, questioned her timeline, noting she publicly mentioned starting her new treatment before the legislation was even signed. Also, oncologists pointed out that receiving FDA-approved drugs for unapproved (“off-label”) uses was already a common practice that predated the Right to Try law.
The Grand Offal Party 