President Donald Trump's GOP convention "shindig" in Dallas is already revealing the erosion of his power, Amanda Marcotte wrote for Salon on Wednesday.
"In the past, most Republicans would have complied, ponying up both the money and time to placate the narcissist-in-chief, even though midterm conventions have never been a thing for the GOP and likely won’t be after Trump is gone," wrote Marcotte. "This year, though, a whole lot of candidates have discovered a sudden need to wash their hair."
Specifically, she noted, 45 out of 70 GOP officials contacted by Politico have already decided they won't show up, and many of the remaining respondents haven't made up their mind. "According to The Bulwark’s Joe Perticone, many Republicans on Capitol Hill are also reluctant to attend — a sign, he writes, that they are afraid of being seen with an unpopular president who is 'dragging them down in this fall’s midterm elections,'" she said.
It's a huge blow to Trump, who was only having this convention in the first place to "boost his fragile ego," Marcotte wrote — and this is emphasized by his behavior over the past few days.
"Over Labor Day weekend, Trump spent hours every day posting A.I.-generated delusions of grandeur on Truth Social: images of him with George Washington, a video depicting him as DC superhero Green Lantern, illustrations featuring him as the evil leader of a robot army and a rendering of an outsized map showing America conquering Mexico, Canada and Greenland to create a Trumpian empire. It’s hard to imagine who all this is for, except for himself," she wrote. All of this suggests that Trump "doesn’t seem to be able to cope with reality, and so he is instead burrowing himself into childish power fantasies as an escape."
Analysts have noted that Trump's AI-generated meme trolling was key to getting him re-nominated in 2024, but is now just dragging him down.
And his huge get-together in Texas is unlikely to do anything for the situation, Marcotte concluded.
"Make-believe can only get one so far when the real world keeps intruding," she wrote. "Maintaining Trump’s bubble of flattery already looks like an exhausting task for his handlers. Their misery is only going to get worse."
