Rick Wilson: Trump's 'grunting riffs and conspiracy-addled fantasies' won't save him from 'political humiliation' in November

President Donald Trump tried to revive his spirits, and his re-election campaign, with a rally before conservative college students -- but Rick Wilson says he shouldn't draw consolation from his Arizona event.

The president addressed a Students for Trump event in Phoenix, which drew about 3,000 supporters after his disastrous rally in Tulsa drew about 6,200, and Wilson explained at The Daily Beast why those totals showed deep trouble for his 2020 campaign.

"Even an afternoon visit with a crowd of Trumpjugend Turning Pointers sporting red hats, cargo shorts and Charlie Kirk tramp stamps couldn’t offset weeks of utter personal and political humiliation," Wilson wrote. "With more than 125,000 Americans dead on his watch, Trump two rallies in hasn’t found even 10,000 willing to risk their health to show up and support him."

A packed house in Tulsa could have changed the narrative of his re-election campaign, Wilson said, but the empty seats showed Trump supporters are losing faith.

"He’s losing, and his campaign blew a layup assignment," Wilson wrote. "Even Trump realized his speech had been a flop; the long, rambling Lord of the Ramp story didn’t charm the audience, but left them bored and fidgeting, hoping for a moment where Trump recaptured the magic of 2016."

Trump treated his younger fans to "grunting riffs, conspiracy-addled fantasies, and a strange obsession with cops treating protesters with strong, rough, manly vigor," but Wilson said he seemed to be going through the motions.

"Get ready for 1968 redux with Fat Nixon at the helm. Strap in for apocalyptic rhetoric about MS-13, antifa and socialists, not to mention those poor, misunderstood Confederate generals," Wilson said.

But the coronavirus pandemic continues to stalk the president's re-election campaign.

"With his speeches flopping and COVID exploding, Donald Trump may be forced into campaigning from the bunker," he wrote. "What could go wrong?"