Trump’s tough-guy act meets its toughest opponent yet

A man holds a Make America Great Again (MAGA) hat during the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) USA 2026 at the Gaylord Texan Resort and Convention Center, in Grapevine, Texas, U.S., March 28, 2026 REUTERS/Daniel Cole

President Donald Trump this week raged online after the New York Times reported that his Ohio campaign rally had more elbow room than enthusiasm. Former conservative Jennifer Rubin wrote for her Contrarian column that his tantrums are puncturing his tough-guy image and making even his supporters look "weak."

"Of course, he meant to fill empty seats, but his dilapidated logic was dwarfed by the sheer hysteria and venom of receiving such a sad crowd," wrote Rubin.

According to Trump, any photos, videos or reports were obviously fake. He ranted, “The New York Times, and many other Artificial Media Outlets, should be arrested for their dishonesty and disservice to our country."

The high school gym wasn't empty, but it wasn't the large arena Trump once filled. This time around, the venues are smaller and the crowds have dwindled from a sea to more of an archipelago.

Rubin found reporting about Trump's fit amusing, noting that even the Alabama online publication referred to Trump's rant as "Narcissism ... incomprehensibly off the charts."

At the same time that Trump is flying off the handle about his decaying attendance, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton was secretly recorded complaining to donors that his campaign was being controlled by Trump and Washington, and it's still falling apart.

"Politico revealed that Paxton apparently cannot even run his own campaign," Rubin said.

She noted that it's particularly amusing because Republicans have spent so much time and effort attempting to label Paxton's opponent, James Talarico, as less than manly for once being a vegetarian or a vegan.

"The outbreak of sniveling and petulance in MAGA ranks is widespread," Rubin wrote. "Vice President JD Vance has begged voters to give the Republicans a second chance. Unable to deflect questions about Republicans’ sagging polls or his own cruddy performances, he has now taken to embodying a Mean Girl."

She mentioned Vance grumbling about Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), arguing “it is really obvious to me that, at this very moment, Ted Cruz is running for president. At this moment, I’m not. I’m trying to help elect Republicans. That’s what I’m going to keep on doing.”

Rubin said she doubted that very much, given he leaked a story to the New York Times about opposing the Iran war from the start.

When asked about Vance's comments, Cruz said that the VP is simply “insecure."

To Rubin, "All the sobbing and bellyaching does not seem very, well, high-T masculine."

Political analysts have watched as the MAGA community has been manipulated into believing they're only "losing" in the U.S. because others are being given advantages, whether they're women, people of color, immigrants or liberals.

"Resorting to temper tantrums to explain away one’s own shortcomings (in the case of Trump, his abject unpopularity born of failure; in the case of many of his followers, loss of economic and cultural stature in a shifting economy that deprioritizes physical labor, existing in a culture that liberated women from dependence on men)," Rubin wrote.

It's clear to her, she closed, that Trump "and his minions" are moaning because they're in the "pathetic last yelps of a dying autocratic regime. As a pragmatic, political matter, it must be a turn-off for all those guys who thought they were getting a tough guy and instead received a feeble hysteric. No wonder they no longer bother showing up to his campaign rallies."

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