'Untethered' Trump is increasingly living in 'make-believe world of television': analysis

Donald Trump exists in an "imaginary world" that's far more dangerous and threatening than reality, according to a new analysis.

The former president describes "a dark, dystopian place" during rallies, interviews, social media posts and debates to attack President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, but Washington Post columnist Ashley Parker called his claims absurd and disturbing.

"In Donald Trump’s imaginary world, Americans can’t venture out to buy a loaf of bread without getting shot, mugged or raped," Parker wrote. "Immigrants in a small Ohio town eat their neighbors’ cats and dogs. World War III and economic collapse are just around the corner. And kids head off to school only to return at day’s end having undergone gender reassignment surgery."

The Republican nominee spreads false claims about "post-birth abortion" and warns that World War III is imminent unless he's re-elected," Parker added. Critics say those bizarre statements are evidence of his decline.

“He’s not the same candidate he was in 2016 or 2020,” said Democratic strategist Simon Rosenberg. “He’s far more diminished and untethered. The percentage of time he’s spending in the real world versus his dystopian world is decreasing. He’s just not speaking about things that are true in this world that we all live in."

Trump's supporters seem to accept his false claims as true, although some say he sometimes exaggerates, Parker wrote.

“I don’t think he does stretch the truth,” said Trump supporter Marelee Ernestberg. “Trump is not a liar.”

“Now, of course, everybody exaggerates," Ernestberg added. "Trump’s not perfect, and when I’m looking at a candidate, I’m not looking for perfection. I’m not going to marry the guy. I’m not looking for a spouse. I’m looking for someone who’s going to bring this country to a safer, more secure place.”

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Most of Trump's fictions go unchecked when he's speaking to supportive rallygoers or on conservative media outlets, Parker wrote. But he ran into trouble when he falsely claimed that Haitian migrants were stealing and eating pets in Springfield, Ohio, during the presidential debate.

"After Trump made his claim about immigrants eating cats and dogs, ABC News’s David Muir interjected: 'You bring up Springfield, Ohio, and ABC News did reach out to the city manager there. He told us there have been no credible reports of specific claims of pets being harmed, injured or abused by individuals within the immigrant community,'" Parker wrote.

"But Trump persisted," she added. “'The people on television say my dog was taken and used for food!' Trump insisted, turning to the often make-believe world of television to buttress his own imagined fantasy."