Well, that didn’t last long.
Throughout Sunday and into Monday morning, one of the most radical political transformations in American history was being written. The old Trump, the evil and malicious political operator who is hell-bent on revenge and stealing the election, no longer. Politicians, commentators and writers were told that after the shooting and his miraculous escape on Saturday, a new guy had emerged.
He even planned to break his NCR script and, instead of making plans to attack Biden (and write what he called a “humdinger”), he would provide a moderate, unifying figure who would be there to heal the wounds dividing United States. “Honestly, now it will be a completely different communication. It is a possibility to unite the country. I gave him this possibility,” Trump said. The time comes, the boy arrives.
And who better than Donald Trump to unite the country, right?The script was being radically rewritten. We present to you the New Trump, a martyr, now “spiritual” and determined to unify the United States.
He is like Lázuro.
He was banished to death’s door in the new Pilgrim’s Progress story (Trump edition) on Monday morning.
That’s all nonsense, too.
Early Monday morning, when news broke that a Florida judge (and, coincidentally, a Trump-appointed judge) had ignored the classified documents case, the real Trump re-emerged and spoke to Truth Social;
“As we move forward in unity as a country after Saturday’s horrific events, this dismissal of the illegal indictment in Florida will be only the first step, temporarily followed by the dismissal of ALL witch hunts: the January 6 hoax in Washington, D. C. , the Manhattan district attorney’s Zombie case, the attorney general’s scam in New York, false accusations about a woman I’ve never met (an old photo several decades old online with her husband doesn’t count). . . . “
It was a damascene conversion until this post hit Truth Social, and then Trump went back to being Saul.
The first half-sentence of the post is, comically, a nod to the Lazarus-like figure we were told would emerge from his near-death experience. But it didn’t last. And neither does this new fictional creation.
Within seconds of the shooting and after Trump recovered, surrounded by Secret Service agents, he raised his right fist and, his face distorted by a mixture of hatred and rage, shouted “Fight!Fight! Fight!”
No one is oblivious to the feeling of anguish, worry, and anger that can come over someone who has just escaped. But this vindictive, hateful and angry reaction is in line with everything we know about the former president.
And yet, within hours, it was as if Trump had been replaced by a doppelganger. They were recruited to play the Nice Guy (outside of Trump’s natural repertoire). We soon had a short article on Truth Social, “Unite America!” .
Has your account been hacked?
Well, yes, in a way. His two co-directors of the crusade, Chris LaCivita and Susan Wiles, saw the reaction of senior Republicans to the shooting as placing blame on Democrats.
Trump’s aides in his absurd transformation are Chris LaCivita (immediately to his right) and Susie Wiles (immediately to his left).
The language was incendiary and intemperate. They said it would do nothing to convince Trump’s potential electorate, who had so far avoided his divisiveness, to go to the polls in November.
LaCivita and Wiles called a meeting Sunday morning to cancel the attack dogs. Republican Committee speakers were told the GOP would turn down the volume, not turn it up, this week in Milwaukee. Trump had had a chance to look like a martyr, and the Republican Party can now provide a newly sympathetic, even spiritual, figure. It is a political gift.
As Politico reported: “The pivot emerged from a Sunday morning phone call with Susie Wiles, Chris LaCivita, Jason Miller and pollster Tony Fabrizio. . . After hours of relentless and incendiary Republican attacks blaming Democrats for inciting violence, the team agreed. The party can simply use a reset.
Trump and the Republicans’ first reaction to this assassination attempt was to shake their fists and shout “fight, fight, fight. ” But this was temporarily overcome and became a message of unity. This lasted less than 24 hours.
And it worked. The influential online political site Axios, a headline donated by famed political moderate Tucker Carlson, read: “Getting shot in the face changes a man. “
“His advisers tell us that Trump plans to meet his moment by toning down his Trump character and intensifying his efforts to unify a tinderbox America. “
The guy we’ve known for more than 8 years, during our political appointments, is gone. A guy who decided to take revenge, who raises his voice instead of lowering it, uses inflammatory language, channels grievances and challenges into each other. At every moment, he lies and tries to borrow the elections, he no longer exists. No more Mr. Nasty Guy.
Seemingly.
The campaign’s co-chairmen, LaCivita and Wiles, have so far managed to shape a more moderate Trump. His performance in the debate was oddly benign (he is found separately), and he chose not to criticize Biden while the president was under attack for his performance. in the debate of the last two weeks. This stunt duo will have to keep intervening, tearing up the old Trump and playing M. Nice Guy until November.
For this pivot (or rewrite/scam) to work, you’ll need to continue to master it each and every turn. The omens, based on his Truth Social outburst this morning, are not good.
But it will be an incredible act to watch.
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