Donald Trump’s Hitler-reminiscent rhetoric and unprecedented character attacks represent the frightened bluster of an old man in a lot of trouble, according to new analysis released Tuesday.
For proof, argues Boston Globe columnist Renee Graham, look at whom Trump does not insult.
“The figure on his mind these days is probably four — as in the four coconspirators in the Georgia election interference case who’ve cut plea deals with prosecutors in exchange for testimony during the upcoming trial, including against the former president,” writes Graham.
“[Trump] didn’t trash them as he is James, Engoron, and Jack Smith, the special counsel prosecuting Trump’s trials for mishandling classified documents and federal election interference. He recognizes that those who’ve flipped on him can do serious damage to him.”
Graham combats the popular theory that Trump is a campaign mastermind able to rise above multiple criminal and civil court cases, a broad spectrum of conservative competitors and the critics who warn of a fascist bent to his political platform.
Instead, Graham reminds readers that Trump lost to Biden in the 2020 election and could face real consequences for the role he played on Jan. 6, 2021, when rioters stormed the U.S. Capitol.
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“Every breath Trump takes comes with a barrage of insults against his expanding list of perceived enemies,” writes Graham.
“It’s a greatest hits medley for his most ardent followers, but it’s also the empty flex of a petrified 77-year-old man in more trouble than he ever could have imagined.”
Graham compares Trump to the villainous Mr. Potter in “It’s a Wonderful Life” and mafia boss John Gotti, convicted of murder in 1992 after a partner-in-crime ratted him out.
"In his increasingly un-wonderful life, Trump has spent his years enriching only himself and has toiled to remake the world in his own misbegotten image," Graham writes.
"Now he’s facing the possibility that he could end up like the original “Teflon Don,” another ruthlessly ambitious, attention-addicted son of New York’s outer boroughs."
Trump, who currently faces 91 criminal charges, took another blow Tuesday when the Koch brothers’ political network announced they’d put their money on Nikki Haley for the Republican nomination, Graham writes.
“It’s another unexpected jolt for the former president whose cult of personality might not be as durable as it once was,” Graham concludes.
“Despite his public bravado, he’s old, miserable, and desperate.”
