The Republican Candidate Knows Nothing

Evening Dispatch

Pout harder.

Donald had yet another banner week on the campaign trail. Between cutting his Pennsylvania town hall short to listen to songs from Cats and Shrek for 39 minutes, to his rambling, incoherent performance at the Economic Club of Chicago, it’s hard to see how anybody thinks my uncle is still tethered to reality.

If the town hall was the best example so far of his cognitive decline, the interview with Bloomberg Editor-in-Chief John Micklethwait at the Economic Club of Chicago was perhaps the best example I’ve seen of an interlocutor revealing both Donald’s inability to handle pushback and his stunning ignorance. The titan of business and master of the art of the deal clashed repeatedly with Micklethwait—over January 6 and the economic impact of increased tariffs—and he came out of every exchange looking like a complete fool whose lack of knowledge was surpassed only by his contemptuousness.

Donald’s con all along has been to surround himself with sycophants and useful idiots who tell him exactly what he wants to hear. If you listen closely to the conversation with Mickletwait, you can hear MAGA supporters cheer even Donald’s most inane comments in order to mask the stunned silence of the economists in the audience. The painful truth, which has been obvious to those of us who’ve been paying attention for the last several decades, is that Donald knows as little about business as he does about running the government; which is to say, nothing. He doesn’t understand how the American government works, and he has no plan to move America forward. 

If only we’d seen more pieces with headlines like this in 2016:

The myth of Businessman Trump has collapsed

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Shortly after Donald’s Bloomberg debacle, Vice President Harris beat Donald (again), this time on his home turf. During a weirdly combative interview with Fox’s Bret Baier, who was obnoxious and condescending throughout, Harris came out looking like the tough, unflappable leader she is. Her appearance has won her even more endorsements from key Republicans. Even the crypto guys are talking about backing her.

I will never understand why it took so long, but it’s as if people are finally seeing the man behind the curtain: the miserable, petty, perpetually aggrieved child who seems only to be trying to win back the presidency so he can stay out of prison. That so many media outlets continue to let him get away with murder, and that tens of millions of Americans continue to support him is enough to make one’s head explode. But it’s a good sign that at least some people are waking up to the realization that Donald is a no-nothing empty suit who is losing his grasp of reality.

We have to keep shining a light on Donald’s increasing, and increasingly serious, deficiencies. And while it's ok to be angry that this race is still so close, let’s not get demoralized. If Donald continues to be under pressure, he’ll keep getting worse. And then, as the lyrics from one of his favorite songs say, it will be “Time to say good-bye.” And good riddance.