Writing in the New York Times this Monday, Matt Flegenheimer said that when it comes to President Trump's grandiose self-assessments of his intelligence, his recent comments where he seemingly suggested injecting disinfectants to treat coronavirus prove that he's anything but a "very stable genius."
"No modern American politician can match Mr. Trump’s record of false or illogical statements, which has invited questions about his intelligence," Flegenheimer writes. "Insinuations and gaffes have trailed former President George W. Bush, former Vice President Dan Quayle and Joseph R. Biden Jr., now the presumptive Democratic nominee, among many others. But Mr. Trump’s stark pronouncement — on live television, amid a grave public health crisis, and leaving little room for interpretation — was at once in a class of its own and wholly consistent with a reputation for carelessness in speech."
Nevertheless, Trump's campaign is pushing forward with the message that Joe Biden is the one who is a doddering old man not up to the rigors of the office.
While Trump has historically been impervious to losing his core base of support despite his egregious antics and bizarre gaffes, "recent polling on his handling of the crisis does suggest some measure of electoral risk," Flegenheimer writes. "Governors and public health officials like Dr. Anthony Fauci are viewed as far more trustworthy on the pandemic, according to surveys."
One sign of the slippage in support is the fact that Fox News hasn't tried to defend his comments. "And recent visitors to the Drudge Report — the powerful conservative news aggregation site whose proprietor, Matt Drudge, has increasingly ridiculed Mr. Trump of late — were greeted with a doctored image of 'Clorox Chewables.' 'Trump Recommended,' the tagline read. 'Don’t Die Maybe!'"
Read the full op-ed over at The New York Times.