Trump’s Slow Descent into Oblivion

From former U.S. Labor Secretary Robert Reich:

Trump’s first official campaign rally will be in Tulsa, Oklahoma on June 19, the day known as Juneteenth, which marks the end of slavery in the U.S. Tulsa is the site of a race massacre 99 years ago that remains one of the worst acts of racial violence in US history. In 1921, hundreds of African Americans were killed when white mobs looted and burned what had been a thriving neighborhood known as “Black Wall Street.”

It’s no coincidence that Trump chose Tulsa and that day. He came to political prominence on his absurd “birther” claim that Barack Obama was born in Africa, and has spent the last three-and-a-half years stirring white resentment. He will be running a racist campaign for reelection because he has nothing else to run on. His choice of Tulsa as the location is a slap in the face to the 84% of Americans who say peaceful protests in response to incidents of police brutality against African Americans are justified.

As long as you’ve asked, I see Trump trapped into a corner, where his only path to anything but an ignominious defeat is firing up his largely racist base with blatantly cruel and hateful actions like this one.  As you said, Mr. Reich, “He has nothing else to run on.”

The problem he faces is that there just aren’t enough of the truly hardcore bigots to get him anywhere close to victory.  In fact, with each passing day, Trump’s numbers fall as it becomes clear that the top echelon of the U.S. military considers him “unfit to command,” a euphemism for “criminally insane.” Some polls have his approval rating in the high 30s at this point.

One has to think that this is largely driven by the consensus of viewpoints of people like Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley, Marine Corps Gen. James Mattis, Marine Corps. Gen. John Kelly, Marine Corps Gen. John Allen, Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, Air Force Gen. Richard Myers, Army Gen. Martin Dempsey, Former Defense Secretary William Perry, Navy Adm. William McRaven, Former Supreme Allied Commander of NATO Navy Adm. James Stavridis, Army Gen. Raymond A. “Tony” Thomas, Air Force Gen. Mike Hayden, Former Defense Secretary Ash Carter, and Former defense secretaries Leon Panetta and Chuck Hagel.

Now, what about mega-donations from Koch Brothers and the other billionaires who love the tax breaks and the destruction of the federal government?  I doubt that money can stop the bleeding at this point.

OK, but what about Russia?  How will tens of millions of Facebook users react when they “learn” to their horror that Biden is a gay child molester who’s hooked on coke and meth?  Considering the events of 2016 and the shame that many people felt, I’m not sure how much play Putin will get out of this.

Of course, anything can happen in five months, but what seems most probable is the slow and steady erosion of his numbers as his increasingly desperate actions continue to frighten off more people.