Trump's MAGA rallies imploding due to a humiliating reality he can't avoid

President Donald Trump dances during a campaign rally for Sen. Darline Graham at the Myrtle Beach Convention Center in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, August 21, 2026. REUTERS/Evan Vucci

President Donald Trump is desperately attempting to revive his base in MAGA rallies and is hitting the same old shtick that once lit a fire of enthusiasm in his fans. The only drawback to this approach, as a conservative journalist points out, is that he has very little else to offer the voters.

Andrew Egger, in an article for The Bulwark on Tuesday, said that the rally which Trump held in Youngstown, Ohio, on Monday, showed a serious weakness in his political strategy as the Republicans prepare for the midterms and aim to rally up their base.

Egger drew a comparison between the Monday event and Trump's rally in October 2024 in Coachella, CA, where the then-candidate was promising the Americans cheaper energy, the ending of foreign wars, and a complete turnaround for the country.

Trump benefitted from an unpopular Biden administration and being out of office for four years; he didn’t have to defend his record.

Two years later, Egger was saying that the advantage had gone, stating, "The reason Trump is in trouble is because, beyond the gross stuff, he has nothing else to give them."

How obvious the contrast was in the case of Trump's campaign promises.

In 2024, Trump claimed he would end the Ukraine-Russia war in one day and bring about stability in the Middle East and prevent another world war, as well as claiming he would halve energy costs during his first year.

Egger notes that the previous pledges, which had been important, have almost vanished from Trump's present campaign speeches, being substituted instead with explanations as to why things have not improved and with attacks on his political opponents.

The rally in Ohio was full of the typical theatrics, during which Trump gave a great deal of detail about Senator Husted's physical appearance and had the audience chanting "deport" following his attacks on Ilhan Omar and Abdul El-Sayed.

Egger spoke about an incident in which a woman who was protesting was attacked by some of the other people present and was then removed from the scene by the police, at the same time as Trump was making fun of her from the stage.

Egger, on the other hand, maintained that the spectacle was by no means new, since Trump's supporters have been seeing this kind of thing for years and it still manages to provoke a reaction.

What has changed, in his view, is that Trump can no longer make a convincing case for what his administration has achieved or what it will achieve in the future.

Instead, the President returns to blaming Joe Biden and makes all sorts of assertions about foreign investment; Egger challenged those assertions and said Trump is increasingly claiming better days lie ahead.

The timing does seem a bit odd since Trump has made a number of visits to Republican strongholds over the past week, specifically two in Ohio, as the party is attempting to get the base excited.

He concluded that the program is still going, but the previously characteristic positive and optimistic tone has almost completely disappeared.

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