Haberman calls it “A re-election effort adrift, at once paralyzed by Mr. Trump’s erratic behavior yet also dependent on him to execute his own Houdini-like political escape.” And Yet Tucker Carlson may be planning his ascendancy to the 2024 GOP nomination only partially assuming Trump’s loss this year: “The moment Trump leaves, they will attack him,” he said. “They’ll tell you that ‘Republicans lost power because they were mean and intolerant just like Donald Trump.’ ... It’s a lie.”
Instead of Twitter advancing his political agenda, Trump uses the presidency to advance his Tweets
Trump is not interested in the actual job of the presidency. He’s interested in the attention the presidency affords him.
After his election, he discovered that running for president was easier and more fun than being president. Which is why he continued to hold campaign rallies even after he was elected. He wasn’t campaigning for anything. He just liked hearing crowds screaming his name. Unlike most politicians, who campaign in order to govern, Trump campaigns as a way to avoid governing.
By the same token, his politics are an extension of his ego—which is why, at his rallies, he tells the crowds how big his crowds are and not what his policies are. Trump says he’ll hold rallies after he wins the 2020 election, too—even though he will be ineligible to run for the presidency again.
Instead of holding rallies for the purpose of getting elected, Trump wants to get elected so he can keep having rallies.
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But as much as Trump hates the presidency, he doesn’t hate it as much as his enemies hate his having it. Relinquishing it would hand them a gift, and nothing displeases Trump more than pleasing his enemies. He would rather everyone be miserable with him in power than everyone be happy with him out of power.
The problem for Trump is that his presidency has no point. It is as devoid of purpose as his days are of work. He doesn’t want to make America great. He wants America to make him feel great.
thebulwark.com/...
Trump is only activated when he can revel in rallies, without that pesky press actually holding him accountable with their lack of adulation in pressers. The problem is the shtick, hackneyed but swallowed with relish by his adoring cult, who may have decided that their health may be more important, leaving the waiting days in line at each venue for the foolhardy. If anything the new cable channel America's Voice News that now shows replays of his rallies may substitute for social distancing.