On CNN, Donald Trump reminded everyone why he was so hard to handle in the 2016 presidential election and also during his presidency. Donald Trump shows bottomless commitment to Donald Trump’s story. He didn’t back down an inch: The election was rigged. While repeatedly emphasizing his respect for Mike Pence, he doggedly insisted that Pence had the power to reject the votes and turn the election back to the states but was convinced by the lawyers not to do so. Furthermore, he said he didn’t owe Mike Pence an apology over January 6 because Pence did the wrong thing. I was surprised at how aggressively he took ownership of the more controversial aspects of his presidency. He defended the policy of child separation as a deterrent. He championed the overturning of Roe v. Wade.
In a moment that will truly repulse many watching at home, he literally got the audience to laugh with him about a jury finding him liable for sexual assault yesterday. He also, in effect, doubled down on his comment on the Access Hollywood tape, insisting, like a red-pilled manosphere blogger, on the fundamental truth that women let successful men and “stars” take advantage of them sexually.
Kaitlan Collins had an impossible job, which was to grill Trump and then give a kind of live, professional-sounding fact-check of his responses. The effect was strange, and it worked in Trump’s favor because he could demonstrate more emotional commitment to whatever he said than she ever could to the corrections or emendations. It is a lesson that Republican challengers must learn.
But I’m afraid the format also showed that Donald Trump is wily. When something becomes a point of contention, he’ll shift his tone to something softer, or more comical, or he’ll basically accuse his antagonist of being obsessed, or as he did once tonight, “very nasty.” This is a very effective tool in Trump’s arsenal because, let’s face it, most other politicians come to the debate stage as ambitious nerds, needful of approval. They have a hard time being funny, or having fun on stage, or signaling an appropriate emotional response. Trump improvises across all 88 keys of the piano in his register, while his antagonists try to stamp out their talking points as if they are banging away at “Chopsticks.”
I would not be surprised if CNN faces some serious intra-media backlash for profiting off giving Trump a platform like this so early.
I also stick by my view that, currently, Ron DeSantis’s chances are being severely underrated.