Trump triumphant

Short of a miraculous upset, Donald Trump is on a rollercoaster back into power as President of the United States (POTUS). Not only has he been formally coronated flagbearer in the November elections by Republicans, he holds the Grand Old Party (GOP) in iron subjection and leverages opportunities to bestride national attention. His obstacle, the Democrats as arrow-headed by incumbent President Joe Biden’s campaign, are  in utter disarray and profoundly backfooted. Trump and his supporters already smell victory for his Make America Great Again (MAGA) comeback and are exulting in exuberant anticipation.

The four-day Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin last week was the Don’s party without any rain. The event was dogmatically Trumpist and there wasn’t any speaker, theme or attendee that didn’t reflect what he wanted. His escape a few days earlier from an assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania, enhanced his indomitable aura and solidified his dominance of the Republican fold. Party conventions, both among Republicans and Democrats, typically and historically struggled to project a façade of unity while embroiled in undercurrents of dissent as intra-party blocs jostled for influence. But there were no such undercurrents at the Republican convention this year because anyone not on Trump’s train stayed away. As speakers trailed one another to the podium, the message was inescapable: the GOP is indisputably Trump’s and is united in pursuit of an electoral sweepstake under his banner. What sweet revenge for Trump to deal a humiliating defeat on Biden who ejected him from the White House in 2021!

 It was one sight beholding primary presidential hopefuls who once contended with the ex-president for the Republican ticket stage a parade of losers as they paid him tribute and swore loyalty oaths. “Donald Trump has my full endorsement, period,” said former South Carolina governor, Nikki Haley, who during the primaries warned that chaos is like air to the ex-president, and declared in February that she felt “no need to kiss the ring.” Florida governor, Ron DeSantis, once touted himself an embodiment of Trumpism without Trump’s trademark pandemonium; but in Milwaukee, he urged the crowd: “Let’s make the 45th President of the United States the 47th President of the United States.” Texas senator, Ted Cruz, has spent years paying penance for his bitter 2016 primary rivalry with Trump, during which time the Don insulted his wife and father. Still, he came on stage in Milwaukee hailing: “God Bless Donald J. Trump!” Another 2016 primary rival and Florida senator, Marco Rubio, espoused the Trump doctrine with poetic fervour, arguing that MAGA fans just want the basic things: good jobs, lower prices, secure borders and safety from terrorists. “What they want, what they ask for is not hateful or extreme,” he said, adding: “There is absolutely nothing dangerous or anything divisive about putting Americans first.” Even Senate Republican leader, Mitch McConnell, cast Kentucky’s delegate vote for Trump – an antagonist who used to call him an “old crow.” In a rare moment of discord at the convention, he was booed by MAGA subjects. Former Vice President Mike Pence apparently had not worked out his differences with his ex-boss and was nowhere near Milwaukee.

“Biden has only very short time to reconsider or he would go in history as willfully leading his party to foreseen defeat…”

Trump had arrived at the convention with the air of indestructibility, following an apparent attempt on his life at a rally in Pennsylvania penultimate Saturday by a 20-year-old gunman. The would-be assassin  named Thomas Matthew Crooks was shot dead at the scene by Secret Service agents and investigation has been opened by the Feds to determine his motive. A rally attendee, 50-year-old volunteer fire chief Corey Comperatore, was killed while trying to shield his family from the gunman’s fire, which left two other attendees severely injured. But the Don was only grazed. He was nicked in the right ear, with a line of blood streaking down his cheek as he ducked the bullet before being blanketed by Secret Service agents and crowded off the stage to safety. “I’m supposed to be dead, I’m not supposed to be here,” he told journalists in one of his earliest media encounters following the incident. “The most incredible thing was that I happened to not only turn (my head) but to turn at the exact right time and in just the right amount,” he said, noting that the bullet that grazed his ear could have easily killed him. On the final night of the Milwaukee convention as fans swooned over his bandaged right ear, he told them: “Just a few short days ago, my journey with you nearly ended… And yet here we are tonight, all gathered together, talking about the future promise and a total renewal of a thing we love very much, it’s called America. We live in a world of miracles.”

Optics is everything in politics – more so in electioneering politics – and Trump is a master at the game. He had projected a historic image of defiance seconds after being shot at, although he may not have been fully intentional at the time: he scrambled to his feet, right ear and cheek bloodied, dishevelled and without his shoes, pumped his fist to the skies and conjured chants of “USA! USA!” from supporters. Even in that existential moment, the ex-president exuded indestructibility and demonstrated why he is rated the ultimate political performance artist. He struck an iconic posture that will be referenced for ages. ‘MAGArians’ wasted no time milking the economic potential as there was frenzied merchandise with Trump T-shirts featuring his portraiture just after he was shot, with slogans like “Bulletproof,” “Legends Never Die,” “Grazed, not Dazed,” and “Shooting Makes Me Stronger” emblazoned. A clothing merchant was cited reporting sales of many dozens of the T-shirts within 24 hours of the shooting, saying: “The sales exceeded my expectations.” 

Even the Trump campaign directly benefitted by way of a spike in donors. The world’s richest man, Elon Musk, who in the past had funded Democratic candidates, was reported pledging $45million a month to a new super PAC (political action committee) backing Trump. Sympathy votes from the shooting reserved for him in the November polls is only to be imagined. Conspiracy theories swirled as to whether the assassination attempt was orchestrated to achieve those very ends, but nothing could be proved. There were as well reports of an Intel indicating a plot by Iran to try assassinating Trump, although there was no evidence Crooks was on it.

While the ex-president rides fame with an indomitable aura and a unifocal GOP under his thumb, Democrats are roiling in doubt and division over the candidature of Biden, their presumptive nominee for the November polls. Even before the Pennsylvania shooting, Trump led Biden in opinion polls, imposing necessity on the 81-year-old incumbent to leverage avenues for a rebound. But he’s done nothing of the sort. His chances rather cratered with their debate some four weeks ago, where Biden put up a dismal performance that has heightened fears about his cognitive health to serve another four-year term. Trump himself is 78 years of age, but at the debate he put up a relatively energetic outing that made his three-year age difference from Biden seem like a generation. 

Trump’s campaign has often projected him as a strongman, unlike Biden whom it described as “the weakest commander-in-chief in our country's history.” His optics on the heels of the Pennsylvania incident reinforced that narrative. And neither did the president’s Oval Office address following the shooting help his own cause,  because it contrasted Trump’s macho image of defiance on rough turf with a lonesome, elderly Biden making a plaintive plea behind his office desk.

Calls reached fever pitch among Democrats over the past week for Biden to step aside for a more youthful candidate, amidst fears that a Trump landslide could also sweep both houses of the American legislature into Republican control in November. Congressional leaders led the advocacy and have been joined by administration officials besides other top Democrats, with a member of the Congressional Black Caucus that has been strongly supportive of Biden describing his candidacy as a political suicide mission. Democrats are in a difficult race to hold the Senate because they are defending a larger number of seats than Republicans in this election cycle.

Biden has thus far resisted calls to cede the Democrat flag. But his candidacy lurches ever deeper into trouble: he had to suspend electioneering late last week and go into isolation following his diagnosis for Covid-19 infection. Well, he has only very short time to reconsider or he would go in history as willfully leading his party to foreseen defeat, and face a humiliating final chapter to his eventful political career.