I’m old enough to remember how Michael Dukakis got pilloried for this photo op he staged of him riding around in a tank:
There were a lot of reasons for it: Dukakis looked uncomfortable; the public became convinced that he was being a fake — acting against type, doing something he didn’t really believe in — and there was, I always suspected, a tinge of resemblance to the late Alfred E. Newman.
I think there’s a good chance, assuming we’re not under occupation at the time, that we’ll look back at this week’s Trump photo op in the same way. I’m talking about the one where, after having police clear out lawful protestors from across the White House, in which he holds aloft some random Bible (Q: “Is that your Bible?” A: “It’s a Bible”) while looking — like Dukakis did — as the answer to What Does Not Belong in This Picture?
Acting against type, doing something he doesn’t really believe in. Not a good look, it turns out.
The trouble is that Trump is serially dishonest and his supporters still support him. One more dishonest look won’t do anything. Its part of the problem with seeing this presidency and any Trump election through the prism of the traditional “play book” of US elections.
Its not about his followers, its about putting the image of him being a phony in the minds of the rest of the electorate.
I agree. But what’s interesting is that it will be the news media making this comparison. They remember Dukakis. Most Americans do not remember, or just don’t care. And that’s fine. The media will run the analogy, and it will hurt Trump dearly. This is sinking Trump’s campaign. He thought it was going to be a campaign poster. He thought it would “win the news cycle.” I think he just blew up his campaign.
You were correct. This was the last day Trump scared anybody. By October 2nd, the fucker was dying of COVID.