As President Donald Trump urges voters to pretend he is on the ballot while he makes his closing argument before the midterms, no one has been happier than Democratic candidates.
By all means, they surely thought, please pretend the president with record-low approval ratings is on the ballot. If Trump wasn’t trying to help Democrats with his bizarre public admiration of male body parts, then he must be, shall we say, thoroughly confused, right? Or suffering from dementia. Either way, he’s not exactly ballot material at a time when his more-charming self is most needed. Then again, Trump is the most superficial president in American history. His gaudy gold obsession. His cabinet picks straight out of central casting. His manic, ego-driven need to rebuild D.C. in the image of himself.
Rather than help Republican candidates who needed him to deliver a strong closing argument during his last-pitch tour, Trump wallowed in self-amusement. He missed an opportunity to boost turnout on Election Day at a time when several key races are tight, even in some red states. What was he thinking?
Some analysts have noted that Trump equates leadership with masculinity. Instead of talking about candidates’ intellect, policies or accomplishments, he focuses on their physical attributes. Remarking on Ohio Sen. Jon Husted (R) at a recent rally, he said, “I started examining his body because I didn’t know he was a great athlete. … I watched up and down, and I looked at his ass. And then I looked at his hands; look at his hands, he’s got these, like, claws.”
He made a similar pronouncement during the 2024 election, when he spoke of Arnold Palmer’s manhood. “This man was strong and tough,” Trump said about the legendary golfer. “And I refuse to say it, but when he took showers with the other pros, they came out of there and said, ‘Oh my god. That’s unbelievable.’”
Heavens. Who is this crassness for? And Palmer was such a gentleman.
But now Trump brings up physical appearances while elaborating on other men’s biceps, legs, shoulders, jawlines and faces.
Trump’s lack of self-awareness is well-known, but lately he’s achieved new heights of denial. Or perhaps I should say depths. Either he’s not worried about the impact of his declining approval ratings on the midterms or he’s gratuitously working his base into a lather for giggles.
Indeed, Trump might realize that even if Democrats take the House and Senate, he can veto anything they pass. Congress would need a two-thirds vote in each chamber to override him, which isn’t likely.
On the campaign trail, Trump has warned audiences that if Democrats win, the country will be consumed by an economic depression, open borders and chaos. Trump certainly has bragging rights for reducing illegal immigration, though his heartless methods trouble people on both sides of the aisle. He also claims to have reduced civilian violence by putting immigration agents and the National Guard on city streets, but, again, that offers no comfort to people who know what fascism looks like. As for chaos, Trump has been a longtime fan.
The disorder we’ve seen in the past two years has been the result of draconian Trump policies that have led to the shooting deaths of civilians and the mass incarceration of people who say they were denied due process. That’s chaos for you.
Republicans and independents who plan to vote for Democratic candidates aren’t necessarily endorsing liberal policies but likely are seeking to impose a balance of power and possibly achieve some financial relief. The common theme in Democratic campaigns has been cost-of-living issues affected by Trump’s erratic warmongering and tariff juggling. For the first time in more than a decade, voters trust Democrats more on the economy, according to a Washington Post-ABC News-Ipsos poll. Trump’s approval rating for handling the economy has taken a nosedive.
Smart Republicans in competitive races have tried to distance themselves from Trump and his policies in the final stretch of their campaigns.
But the president is like a bad penny: He keeps showing up, and he’s no help to the GOP’s faltering future. The best thing that could happen to the Republican Party and the country would be for Trump to leave office gracefully when the time comes and for MAGA members of Congress to be defeated — for good, and for the good of all.
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