Ganesh Kendale
TOI correspondent from Washington: The top American general who served during Donald Trump’s presidency says he is “fascist to the core” and the “most dangerous person ever.” Trump’s own niece Mary Trump says he has “aways been for sale” and billionaire tech-bro Elon Musk is the new owner. The actor Jeff Daniels, who’s “America is not great” screed of US in a tv serial became a global viral hit, says Trump rallies are where people go to get away from their conscience.
Outside the MAGA echo-chamber, Trump take-downs are relentless across America. Yet, not a vote seems to have moved in the US Presidential polls, with most credible surveys showing the two candidates virtually tied. There are marginal shifts in the lead in the seven battleground states, but every state is within a normal-sized polling error of 3.5 points and could swing either way. An NBC poll put them at 48-48 nationwide, with only a “sliver of undecideds” remaining to make up their mind.
Beyond polling, the campaign has become even more mean and toxic, pandering to partisans with ever uglier swipes. In some of the most vicious language ever used by a presidential candidate, Trump reportedly called Kamala Harris “retarded” in a meeting with his donors, even as his MAGA mob yelled “She’s a Ho'” at a rally in Coachella, California, where Trump replayed the dark, dystopian view of the US overrun by illegal immigrants.
Liberal hacks meanwhile taunted Trump with memes about his purported incontinence, including a fake post where the former President contests videos in which a loud tooting sound is heard. Trump critics were in full flow this week with fetid stories about “Diaper Don” and his problem with incontinence, citing his former personal staff and associates on his show The Apprentice.
Meanwhile, the movie The Apprentice centering on Trump opened in movieplexes across America to acclaim from movie critics but blistering criticism from the MAGA crowd, including threats of legal action by Trump lawyers for its negative portrayal of a young Trump. Among other things, the movie suggests Trump had a homo-erotic relationship with a sleazy lawyer named Ray Cohn who was his mentor and show him sexually assaulting his first wife Ivana Trump after she calls him fat and balding.
None of this appears to be making the slightest dent in support for a man who once boasted that he could shoot someone in the middle of New York City’s Fifth Avenue and still not lose any votes. If anything, the relentless trashing to Trump seems to be consolidating support for a candidate seen as fighting the “establishment.”
In fact, Trump supporters over the weekend unloaded on one of the country’s top generals, former chairman of the joint chiefs of staff Mark Milley, who is quoted as describing the former President as a “total fascist” in Bob Woodward’s new book. “I had suspicions when I talked to you about his mental decline and so forth, but now I realize he’s a total fascist. He’s now the most dangerous person to this country. A fascist to the core,” Milley tells Woodward.
But the MAGA mob has now turned on Milley, calling him a traitor who should be tried by a military tribunal because, according to them, he withheld nuclear codes from Trump when he was the President and alerted China that he would give them a head’s up if Trump decided to launch a war.
In fact, revenge is a recurring theme among Trump supporters if he returns as president, a result they believe is inevitable. Trump himself has repeatedly said he will accept the results of the election only if he wins. A recent Pew survey in fact showed that 72% of voters say if Harris loses she will accept the results and acknowledge Trump’s victory. Virtually all Harris supporters (95%) and about half of Trump supporters (48%) expect Harris to concede. But just 24% say if Trump loses he will concede, while 74% say he will not. About half of Trump supporters (46%) and only 4% of Harris supporters expect Trump to acknowledge Harris as the election winner.
