Donald Trump keeps shrinking and no longer presents himself as the "scary guy" he projected in his first campaign, according to MSNBC's Chris Matthews.
The former president seems to be fixated on a recent Time magazine cover featuring an illustration of Kamala Harris, saying last week that the image reminded him of his own wife Melania and then insisting at a rally Sunday that he's "better looking" than the vice president, and Matthews told "Morning Joe" that communicated his insecurity and inherent weakness.
"Trump looks like an idiot when he talks about being a Miss America contestant or he is better looking than her," Matthews said. "He is not the Godzilla he presented himself as with Hillary [Clinton], he's out there bragging about his appearance. That's not a scary guy – that's a vaudeville act, that's a joke."
Matthews predicted that Harris would aggressively confront Trump in their debate next month and make him look small, where the Republican nominee had lurked menacingly behind Clinton during their debates in 2016.
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"I think [Harris] can point to him with that command authority she had when she announced her candidacy for president," Matthews said. "I think she can be strong in the room. You know, when Nixon lost to Kennedy, I went back and I have been watching those tapes, those are all available – look at the tapes. Kennedy came on with eight minutes of aggressive arguments about the Cold War and saying, 'What we fight about here in America is important in the fight against the Russians,' and he was able to show strength. Nixon had to play defense that whole time, it was like Nixon was trying to get Kennedy to like him."
"This time around Trump cannot pull the Miss America number and say, 'I'm better looking than her,'" Matthews added. "He can't play Godzilla again. He will have to stand there and take it because she will be aggressive."
President Joe Biden will symbolically pass the torch to his vice president in his speech Monday night at the Democratic National Convention, and a parade of former presidents and other party luminaries will set Harris up as the future of the party, which Matthews said would only serve to diminish the Republican nominee.
"I think it is going to be a wonderful week," Matthews said. "Outside the debates, they're going to be, of course, the rallying and the protests and all, but I think she is going to show youth tomorrow, and Trump will look like an old act."
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