Trump Fatigue Is Finally Here

And the timing couldn’t be better.

(photo via Getty images)

by Bob Cesca

WASHINGTON, DC -- We have no idea what Donald Trump’s physical condition is. We have no idea the extent of his illness or whether he’ll recover. We have no idea when he contracted COVID. We have no idea when his last negative test was administered. We have no idea whether he’s going to do something erratic as a consequence of the medication he’s taking. We know nothing for certain, other than he’s positive for COVID and the course of the infection was bad enough to land him in Walter Reed for a long weekend. That’s it.

There’s really only one way to at least have a sense of what’s happening: listen to what Trump and his henchmen say publicly and then assume the opposite is true. In most cases, this is at least functional in terms of knowing what’s real and what’s fiction. For example, when Trump says he’s feeling great, he’s probably lying -- he’s probably not feeling well, given the virus, and the only reason he seems somewhat together is likely a side effect of the steroids. 

It’s this guessing game, however, that’s beginning to wear thin with voters -- this ongoing round of grabass in which we’re left with no choice but to unravel Trump’s geyser of gibberish as if we’re trying to pull chewing gum out of our hair. Only, as soon as we get frustrated and just cut the damn hair off, he jams another wad of Hubba Bubba in there, and around we go again. It simply never ends.

Between the hasty roll-out of Amy Coney Barrett, then Trump’s horrifying performance at the debate, and then the COVID diagnosis accompanied by more incompetence and deception, all layered precariously on top of all of the other things including 210,000 dead, American voters seem like they’re done with the horseshit.

This is the dreaded Trump fatigue. It’s finally here and the timing couldn’t be better.

Of course, I cut all of this with my standard warning: don’t get happy. In other words, don’t get complacent. Don’t for a second believe this is over. There are still 26 days to go, and as you’re well aware by now, 12 different catastrophes can drop in our laps within the next 26 seconds, much less 26 days. And that includes a ton of cheating and foreign cyber-attacks. This is not over. 

But if the election were held today, and all things were normal, we’re looking at a result for Joe Biden that’s in line with Barack Obama’s 2008 victory -- and possibly bigger than that. If you recall, Obama walked away with 365 electoral votes, and previously unheard-of wins in states like North Carolina, Iowa, and even Mike Pence’s Indiana. 

According to RCP’s “no toss-up” map, Joe Biden is on the verge of winning 374 electoral votes, nine more than he and Obama won in 2008. While the map doesn’t include Indiana in the blue column, if the election were today, Biden would win the normally red states of Arizona and Georgia -- the entire east coast minus South Carolina. Now, bear in mind, this is a stylized map in which RCP awards each state based on even the narrowest margins in the polls, disregarding the margins of error

Nevertheless, the polls are moving heavily in the direction of Biden and Kamala Harris at the moment, eating into the ranks of the Red Hats -- some of Trump’s hardcore supporters are starting to peel off from the collective. 

This has to be Trump fatigue. The way this manifests itself among his supporters, though, is different than how it impacts Normals, be they political junkies or average Americans. Trump supporters might be just plain sick of defending their guy when their guy seems to perpetually make things worse for himself. It becomes exhausting when the targets keep moving around -- Trump contradicting himself, or doing blatantly indefensible things like throwing off his mask upon arriving at the White House after being in the hospital for an incurable infectious disease.

So, things are looking brighter than they did even several days ago. Personally, I’m relieved that there doesn’t appear to be a sympathy vote showing in the polls. Americans are done with Trump and their sympathies are being dedicated to people who deserve it.

Now, I transform into Captain Scary Pants.

This is also where Trump could do something unthinkable. He’s drugged to the gills on a steroid that causes erratic behavior, and that’s layered on top of an already erratic personality. Usually, drugs that affect our moods tend to amplify what’s there in the first place, good and bad. And we already know what Trump is capable of. It’s frankly a miracle that our enemies haven’t seized upon Trump’s incapacities -- before and during his COVID diagnosis. It feels like there’s no one at the wheel. Even the Joint Chiefs are suffering from the disease now, and the White House is a ghost town.

Worse, Trump’s Twitter feed looks like it was hacked by a Trump impersonator like Tony Atamanuik, who’s satirizing Trump at his manic worst. If his political fortunes continue to dissolve, who knows what he’ll do to keep the news cycle squarely focused on his spittle-spewing mug. In this regard, let’s hope the side effects of his medications wear off soon before he bombs something -- or someone.

Ultimately, though, America might be, at long last, sick of Trump. And for the first time in forever, I feel like the clouds might be parting -- like we might have a real shot at not only disposing of Trump but also Trumpism. And as hard as we’ve worked to resist the Trump regime, it looks like the thing that’ll ultimately doom him is… himself.

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