Evidently, Donald Trump still doesn’t fancy another debate with Vice President Kamala Harris.
The ex-president, who wants his old job back, said a rematch is unnecessary because “polls clearly show that I won the debate against comrade Kamala Harris, the Democrats’ radical left candidate.”
While the debate polls Trump cited were questionable or nonexistent, real polls showed Harris, who aims to succeed President Joe Biden, was the clear winner.
When Trump campaign bigwigs “say he won the debate, they are just putting a good face on it for his supporters,” said veteran Kentucky journalist Bill Straub.
Nonetheless, Straub proposed that Trump “actually thinks he prevailed. He believes that he is infallible, so it’s impossible that he didn’t succeed in that debate, especially against a woman of color.”
Trump’s delusional reaction to his demonstrably poor debate performance is more dangerous than if he were just lying about it, added Straub, a Northern Kentucky Tribune columnist and Kentucky Journalism Hall of Famer.
Meanwhile, some election polls suggest Harris may be benefitting from a post-debate bounce, but the race is still close.
“She should be running away with it,” said a baffled western Kentucky Democrat, doubtless speaking for a slew of Harris supporters across the country.
“Trump has run twice before,” explained Straub who covered state politics in Frankfort for the old Kentucky Post and national politics in Washington for Scripps-Howard news service. Though he lost to Biden in 2020, Trump “got 75 million votes, and he probably will get about that number again this time, maybe a little bit less,” said Straub.
Straub likened the MAGA faithful to a cult — an opinion shared by more than a few other pundits. “No matter what he says or does — whether he’s lying about dogs or cats and Haitians, or any of that stuff — they believe him.”
Trump “doesn’t care about policy. His followers don’t care about policy,” The Atlantic’s Tom Nichols recently said on MSNBC. Claims that they do are “top cover for them saying, ‘I just love the fact that he makes people mad, and he hates the people I hate.’”
Straub said the MAGA core is mostly white men angry with having “to acknowledge that women and people of color and gay folks have just as many rights as they do, and that they ought to be able to take part in the same promise of America that [white men have] taken advantage of since the founding of the republic.”
White males dominated American politics, society, and culture for centuries. Hence, they’re “not in much of a mood to share” power with women, minorities, or anybody else, according to Straub.
“Voting for Trump continues to bolster their status,” Straub said. “They have also talked themselves into believing that Trump is the answer to any economic problems that may persist, which is ridiculous. He is basing his entire economic plan on raising tariffs, which he says won’t raise prices for anyone. He’s apparently the only person in the world who really believes that.”
Trump and his running mate, JD Vance, falsely claim that exporters pay tariffs. “A tariff is a tax that is paid by US businesses – not other countries – when a foreign-made good arrives at the American border,” explained CNN’s Katie Lobosco. “One of the intended goals of a tariff is to raise prices on foreign-made goods, and study after study shows that the duties (tariffs) do drive up costs for Americans.”
No matter, said Straub, “the people who follow Trump believe him because he says it.”
Election polls also show that a significant number of voters say they are still undecided. “The choice is obvious, no doubt, going one way or another,” Straub said.
Trump shows no signs of moderating to win over independents and swing voters. His statements are becoming more extreme, especially his anti-immigrant rhetoric. “It’s not even being hidden anymore,” said Straub. “It is so overt.”
But he added that the Trump campaign is relying on his refusal to tone down the rhetoric “to draw voters. We’ll see.”
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