I low-key suspect that the attempted assassination has affected Trump more than he wants to let on, and he isn't actually invested in being president anymore.

[–] BurgerPunk@hexbear.net 27 points 6 days ago (1 children)

He was already pretty dry at that point. No one talked about because Biden was wven worse, but he's declined a lot. Probably been like this since he had Covid

[–] gueybana@hexbear.net 18 points 6 days ago (1 children)

I was honestly surprised by how… nice he was being to Biden in the first debate while the guy was sundowning live on air. There was only one quip (I’m not sure what he’s saying and I don’t think he knows what he’s saying) but otherwise he seemed completely checked out from being his usual self.

[–] BurgerPunk@hexbear.net 13 points 6 days ago

Yeah, i imagine in Trumps debate prep they decided not to push to hard if Biden went full senile. Most people wouldn't react well to seeing a senile old man attacked.

[–] InevitableSwing@hexbear.net 23 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago) (1 children)

I agree. When he was recovering from covid - he wanted to leave the hospital and do a reveal to show he was wearing a Superman shirt underneath. And when took his reality tv-like triumphant return to the White House via Marine One - I'm not exaggerating when I say I thought he might have a stress-related health problem right then outside the White House. He looked sickly and struggling to breathe. But he was in denial and the hogs loved it. Their hero returned.

When he nearly got assassinated - his raised fist was an insane display of courage. And then - all things considered - he had fairly dignified exit from the stage to his armor-protected vehicle. It was in no way like the movies where the Secret Service agents are pushing the president along because every second counts. And in another un-movie detail - I think he even managed another raised fist before they finally managed to get him in the car. It's impossible to know what he was thinking in the aftermath but I think it was possible his massive adrenaline rush made him forget that actual reality is not like reality tv. When you die in reality - that's it. You're actually dead.

And then when he turned on his tv - even in his right-wing media bubble he must have felt awful when it was clear a huge number of people didn't care very much about him or they were lamenting the fact he didn't die. After the shooting - I'm unaware of any grandstanding and boasting Trump did about it. And I assume not only has he been ruminating that he nearly died - he's probably also thinking you can only avoid the Grim Reaper only so many times and at 78 - he's not going to live forever.

[–] BynarsAreOk@hexbear.net 8 points 6 days ago (1 children)

It's impossible to know what he was thinking in the aftermath but I think it was possible his massive adrenaline rush made him forget that actual reality is not like reality tv. When you die in reality - that's it. You're actually dead.

IMO Trump doesn't have an ideological drive that justifies personal sacrifice, on the contrary he is extremely selfish and MAGA atracts exactly a huge part of this selfish chauvinistic white population.

So yeah when he had the opportunity to reflect on whether any of this is worth dying for he probably couldn't answer with "yes" unequivocally. Heck I doubt he even actualy cares or believes in actual MAGA rhetoric if it doesn't include direct benefits to people like him.

Not like this isn't obvious either, bullies tend to be cowards as a stereotype and first of all Trump's entire personal life before MAGA was entirely as part of the privileged capitalist class. He is part of the least likely group of people to ever consider any sort of altruism or sacrifice for a greater goal.

[–] InevitableSwing@hexbear.net 6 points 6 days ago

he is extremely selfish and MAGA atracts exactly a huge part of this selfish chauvinistic white population.

In early/mid 2017 - I left liberalism. In two words: Sebastian Gorka. News broke that there was a Nazi in the White House so I assumed he'd resign or get fired. Surely that had to happen. What a quaint thought that seems now. After some time had passed (About a month? Two months?) I realized two things that made me sick to my stomach. One, Trump wasn't going to ask him to resign. Two, the democrats weren't going to demand he resign. I could see how utterly useless the democrats would be in dealing with Trump in general.

In fact - I assume that in private in 2017 DC dems focused on what they considered the silver lining of Trump's presidency. They figured they'd do well 2018 and in 2020 after Americans realized who they elected. Of course that was nonsense. Trump's base knew who he was - that's why they voted for him! In the end and up to now - I've been 100% unsurprised that the DC dems were not only shortsighted but idiots as well. Libs would never admit it but I think some of them still realize that if not for covid - Trump would have won a second term.

[–] Tofu_Lewis@hexbear.net 7 points 6 days ago

There's a story about how he watched the assassination attempt video on repeat for a time, so yeah, he's shook