Trump Desperate, Despondent as Numbers Crater, "Loser" Label Looms

[brooklynite]

Source: Vanity Fair

With Donald Trump’s approval sinking to Jimmy Carter levels and coronavirus cases spiking across the country, Trump is reluctantly waking up to the grim reality that, if the current situation holds, his reelection is gone. Republicans that have spoken with Trump in recent days describe him as depressed and “down in the dumps.” “People around him think his heart’s not in it,” a Republican close to the White House said. Torn between the imperative to win suburban voters and his instincts to play to his base, Trump has complained to people that he’s in a political box with no obvious way out. According to the Republican, Trump called Tucker Carlson late last week and said, “what do I do? What do I do?”

To console himself, Trump still has moments of magical thinking. “He says the polls are all fake,” a Republican in touch with Trump told me. But the bad news keeps coming. This week, Jacksonville, Florida—where Trump moved the Republican National Convention so he could hold a 15,000-person rally next month—mandated that people wear masks indoors to slow the explosion of COVID-19 cases. According to a Republican working on the convention, the campaign is now preparing to cancel the event so that Trump doesn’t suffer another Tulsa–like humiliation. “They probably won’t have it,” the source said. “It’s not going to be the soft landing Trump wanted.”

Neither the Trump campaign nor the White House responded to requests for comment.

Trump remains furious at his son-in-law Jared Kushner, whom he blames for the campaign’s dismal poll numbers. Axios reported this week that Trump complained privately that Kushner’s advice on criminal-justice reform damaged Trump politically. But because Kushner is family, sources say it’s unlikely that Trump will formally strip him of authority.

Read more: https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2020/07/trump-despondent-as-numbers-crater-loser-label-looms

[soothsayer]

1. Sow the wind, reap the whirlwind

[Roc2020]

13. precisely it never fails

Sow evil, reap evil.
DMX-ya do dirt ya get dirt.

[durablend]

2. What do they mean "looms"?

He's always been a loser

[tecelote]

43. Agreed. The Greatest Loser in The History of America!

Everyone says so.

[PatrickforO]

69. Yeah, lots of people are saying it...

Greatest traitor, too!

[thucythucy]

3. I don't appreciate the comparison to President Carter,

who continued working and working hard for the best interests of the nation, even after he lost the election.

For Carter his presidency was never about himself and only himself. It was about service to the nation.

Unlike the current occupant.

[brooklynite]

4. The reference is to the level of electoral defeat...

Carter lost 44 States as an incumbent President, vs 32 for GHWB.

[thucythucy]

7. I understand that.

It still rankles though.

President Carter is a fundamentally decent man. Mentioning him in the same breath or paragraph with Benedict Donald just grates, is all I'm saying.

[brooklynite]

8. I worked on Carter's campaign...

...and I concurrently took a University class on Presidential Politics that got me access to campaign and White House staff. Carter was an excellent President but a lousy Presidential candidate. I knew he was going to lose three months out.

[LanternWaste]

28. jfc

[DenverJared]

72. Carter was weakened by Ted Kennedy and the so called "progressives"

In hindsight, Carter turned out to be far more progressive than their wildest dreams.

[Demsrule86]

80. Carter is a good man but was not a popular president. Had Carter done what LBJ did, we might

have elected Ted Kennedy. The handwriting was on the wall.

[Thekaspervote]

22. Agree!

[aggiesal]

29. He was also undercut by RayGun, when ...

RayGun made an agreement with the Iranian authorities to hold the hostages until after the election, to make Carter look bad.

Why do (R)'s go to foreign countries to get their way?

[Zorro]

32. He was also undercut by Teddy Kennedy

Wasn't pure enough.

[JHB]

60. Kennedy's effects were dwarfed by the hostage crisis

There were a number of factors that eroded Carter's support, but the biggest one was the failure to bring the hostages home.

[groundloop]

33. That dirty little secret sure seems to be forgotten by most people.

ReyGun was as dirty as they come, yet he managed to survive the entire Iran Contra scandal.

[aggiesal]

34. ... yet he managed to survive the entire Iran Contra scandal. Because ...

Oliver North lied to cover RayGun's a$$.

I will never ever forgive or respect Ollie!

[keithbvadu2]

47. Two faces of Ollie North

[OMGWTF]

40. Wild Bill Barr suggested that GHWB pardon everyone in Iran Contra

This is why he was called in to help Traitor Tot with his Russia problem. Rethuglicans ARE ALL CROOKS AND LIARS!

[plimsoll]

39. Don't forget Operation Eagle Claw.

It didn't work out, and he took responsibility. Although another famous GOP operative was in command.

Some people say Oliver North deliberately scuttled the operation.

[lastlib]

54. Becuz treason is part of their DNA.

Nixon cut deals with S. Vietnam to undercut LBJ's peace talks, prolong the war for his benefit; Raygun undercut Carter's efforts to get hostages freed, sold missiles to Iran; Daddy Bush sold goodies to Iraq; Junior started a war with Iraq to get them back; Trumpski--that encyclopedia is still being written.

[cstanleytech]

30. I understand but keep in mind it's just the numbers that they are really discussing.

Carter himself is still respected by more people now than Trump will be 40 years from now.

[AZ8theist]

63. Huh??

Carter is respected now by more people than Doturd WILL EVER HAVE. PERIOD.

Even his most ardent supporters don't actually respect him, they just love the racism, stupidity and xenophobia.

(oh, and the tax cuts.....)

[cstanleytech]

64. Fair point.nt

[Glorfindel]

5. Yes. You're absolutely right. President Carter embodies and

exemplifies "service."

[Scarsdale]

11. President Carter is and always was,

a fine honorable man. Nothing whatsoever like the trash in the WH. President Carter is a man of faith, who lives that faith. tRump uses the Bible as a prop. Can you imagine tRump and Maleria helping build houses for poor people? Never in a million years. Everything they do is for themselves.

[OMGWTF]

41. Trump: I'm going to build a wall. Carter: Just one? Lazy bastard.

[BigOleDummy]

50. Lol

Excellent , well said humorous and quite true

[SergeStorms]

44. My mother was a died in the wool republican...

and she felt sorry for Jimmy. "He was too good a man to be president", she told me once, and I damned near fainted. She never had anything good to say about any democrat, but she liked Jimmy. I think it was his, "I've sinned in my heart" admission.

[Mike 03]

6. Good article. Lots of inside baseball.

Kushner’s vast sway over West Wing decisions has become a flashpoint between him and Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, sources say. The two have been engaged in a cold war over control of the campaign. Meadows pushed Trump to replace campaign manager Brad Parscale, a Kushner ally, the Republican close to the White House said. Kushner wasn’t happy that Meadows is close with Kushner’s adversaries Corey Lewandowski and David Bossie.

[brooklynite]

25. Kushner is keeping Parscale in place?

First policy decision I've agreed with.

[Mopar151]

45. If he doesn't get along with Lewandowski and Bossie, he deserves a slice of raisin pie n/t

[not fooled]

52. Hahahahahaha

Rats fighting.

[link:|]

[SWBTATTReg]

9. I'll start. LOSER LOSER LOSER!!! Ahhhh, how sweet it tastes, to call this POS a

loser. I could do it all day.

And of course he's blaming everyone else (including Jared) but himself for being called a LOSER, and the sad, pathetic thing about it, is
that he feels like he's done nothing to merit being called a LOSER when in fact, he has done everything to fully merit this title.

LOSER!

[Harker]

26. Good work...

the "looming" phase cut appropriately short.

[regnaD kciN]

77. I'll wait until November 4th...

...before I start gloating. Once bitten, twice shy.

But, oh, if it happens...prepare for some world-class gloating until Inauguration Day.

[bucolic_frolic]

10. Make Trump a LOSER!

[regnaD kciN]

78. Good point...because WE have to do it...

Trump isn't going to vote himself out of office. That's OUR job.

[Hassler]

12. Jared isn't qualified to take out the trash

How big of a loser do you have to be to put Jared in charge of anything? A PAUTUS level loser

[Stuart G]

14. ..So, it was Jared Kushner whose fault it is for..."dismal poll numbers." Somebody else's fault..

..Yes, Jared did it. Oh, it was Ivanka?... Oh, it was Obama's fault.....
...Oh, ..it was Stuart G's fault..maybe Trump's father's fault? ....Maybe ...John Barrymore's fault.
..Let's see who else can be blamed..? Biden? Two Clintons?..George Washington?..Fred McMurray?
I just figured it out....Thank goodness.................................................................
.........................................................It was Harry Truman's fault.......................

[iluvtennis]

18. Spot on! Always someone else's fault. trump takes ownership for nothing. nt

[PatSeg]

19. Oh you forgot his mother

I'm sure it was mostly HER fault! Actually, I honestly think a lot of who and what he is goes back to Mommy.

Meanwhile, it is never Donald's fault.......never, never, never!

[NNadir]

24. Very good. Very Good.

[Harker]

27. If it was your fault

you're to be warmly congratulated.

[regnaD kciN]

76. Why blame Jared...?

I mean, the guy's an arrogant dweeb, but claiming that it was his advice on criminal-justice reform that is blame for Trump's bad poll numbers is so far beyond delusional, it can't even be seen from there. Does he really think that people are mad at him mainly because of his criminal-justice reform proposals? Did anyone even notice them?

[regnaD kciN]

79. Blame Canada!

[Bernardo de La Paz]

15. Dumpster fire "down in the dumps". No sympathy. . . . nt

[uppityperson]

16. Thoughts and prayers

[catbyte]

17. ...

[Cha]

38. Good one.. Karma can be good or bad.. depending

on what we've sown.

We all know trump's Karma is going to be a MF.

[llmart]

20. We knew...

it was only a matter of time before he started throwing family members under the bus.

[Thekaspervote]

21. Some smart DU'ers and pundits said that framing dotard as a loser would take him him down

Congrats!! You were right

[NNadir]

23. Moments of magical thinking? Beginning with the delusion that he is the leader of the White...

...Master Race, he has never had a thought in the brain actually smaller than his hands that wasn't magical thinking.

[Lonestarblue]

31. I hope lots of Twitter users hit Trump over and over as LOSER Trump.

He needs to know that millions of us hate his very existence. He needs to go live in Russia with his best bud.

[groundloop]

35. PEOPLE ARE DYING BY THE THOUSANDS AND THAT MOTHERFUCKER IS FEELING SORRY FOR HIMSELF !!!!!!

[SammyWinstonJack]

48. Exactly.

[dalton99a]

81. +1

[SergeStorms]

36. Always blaming someone else instead of instead of himself.

I can't wait to stand outside the White House on January 20, 2021 with my larger than life LOSER sign in full display. Yeah, it'll be cold, and I'm old, but it might very well be the last time I get to shove it up a republicans ass in my lifetime. I'm not going to miss that opportunity.

[Cha]

37. Just what our Country needed.. a potus that really hasn't

woken up to reality yet.

I still don't believe it.

And who's doing All the Leaking!?

[William Seger]

42. I assume Tucker Carlson's advice was to crank up the race baiting

[usajumpedtheshark]

46. When Biden becomes president

we deserve to be told the truth about all stupidity and corruption we have had to endure since the last election.

Every senior member of the Executive Branch and every Republican member of the Congress should be required to appear before a truth and reconciliation commission and explain why everything went so wrong and why they decided to betray American citizens.

[BigmanPigman]

66. Hell, YES!

[JudyM]

70. Welcome to DU and HELLS yes.

[marble falls]

49. I no longer care if he bounces out now or if he takes his trouncing on Nov 3. Either way we need...

a Senate and more Democrats in state legislatures. Reapportioning out Gerrymandered districts is important, too.

[niyad]

51. Because I am such a nasty woman, I wonder. . How long after malaria files will entitled

princess follow? Or is the grifting too good to give up?

[left-of-center2012]

53. This ... from the linked article

Trump campaign internal polls show Trump’s level of “strong support” dropping from 21 to 17 points since last week.

A Republican strategist close to Mitch McConnell told me that Republicans have Labor Day penciled in as the deadline for Trump to have turned things around. After that, he’s on his own.

[peggysue2]

55. LOL!!

What do I do? What do I do?

Just keep digging, Donnie boy. Working splendidly!

How Trump-like to blame Kushner for his flagging poll numbers. Criminal justice reform damaged his campaign? The leopard can't change his spots or his blinkered vision. The mistakes are legion, the mismanagement criminal.

Nancy Pelosi called it for what it is: Donald Trump is the real Hoax.

[muriel_volestrangler]

73. Yeah, "criminal justice reform damaged his campaign" does sound dubious

I haven't heard of his base saying "they shouldn't have done that", and normal people have far bigger problems with everything else he's done than that. It may not have helped him, but as an excuse for rock-bottom poll numbers, it just doesn't work.

[GusBob]

56. These VF stories by Sherman always involve Jared or Ivanka

Must be a New York thing

And they always have the line "no one from the WH would comment"

Gossip

[brooklynite]

62. If you're going to discount anything without confirmation from the WH as "gossip"...

I guess we should discount the Russia bounty story?

[GusBob]

65. Just stating an observation

Look it up. Just about every Gabe Sherman story goes back to Jarvanka
It sounds New York gossipy

Sherman ain't enough reporter to break a big story like the Russian bounty, sorry man

But when he comments on it I'm sure Jared will be involved

My point is someone in the Jarvanka circle is whispering in his ear

And he is careful to put the WH denial in EVERY story (again look it up) as cover

D'uh

[elleng]

57. I hope he's truly depressed,

as depression is an awful awful experience, just what he deserves.

[OverBurn]

58. Only alternative, end it all Donnie. A rope, tall building, whole bottle of hydroxychloroquine......

[Maxheader]

59. The worthless bastard doesn't want it..

The 1%ers that still think the yellow haired handjob is good for them will have to step up

and pat rump on the back..give some attaboys out...OOOr..maybe corona has it by the

balls...

[Buckeye_Democrat]

61. Yes, it's all about YOU!

The self-absorbed psycho!

[LudwigPastorius]

67. "it's unlikely that Trump will formally strip him of...

Last edited Thu Jul 2, 2020, 07:34 PM - Edit history (1)

...authority”

Kushner has no legal authority that can be removed.

“President’s Son-in-Law” is not an official government position.

The least-tenured White House janitor has more genuine authority than Jared Kushner. (and certainly performs his duties more honorably than Kushner)

[CRK7376]

68. You are a loser since day 1 you ignorant jackass.

Suck it up you whiny little snowflake. Take your children and whatever Melania is and go back to your townhouse in Manhattan.....oh I forgot you now call Mar-a-Lago home. Go there and whine

[DenverJared]

71. He has his oen incompetence to blame

Getting pandemic advice from Jared was fucking insane.

Trump should have given full authority to Fauci and Birx to manage the pandemic but he couldn't avoid the temptation of a limelight.

[jcgoldie]

74. "a political box with no obvious way out..."

Hey asshole how about try not doubling down on misogynistic racist dick at every single opportunity? I dunno I'm no political expert, just a thought.

[regnaD kciN]

75. The only thing that left me skeptical...

...was the warning from establishment Republicans that, if his numbers don't improve by Labor Day, "he's on his own." Or at least, that Trump was concerned about this. Really? Remember, establishment Republicans washed their hands of him exactly one month before the 2016 election, the day the "pussy-grabber" tape came out. Several leading Republicans un-endorsed him (they later came crawling back), and word was leaked from Ryan and McConnell that Congressional Republicans should try to save their own seats in the wake of Trump's certain defeat. And we saw what happened. Pretty sure Trump sees, not incorrectly, that he carried the Republican Party, not vice-versa, and that, if he is to win again, it will have nothing to do with establishment Republicans publicly backing him.