Donald Trump
For now, President Donald Trump's base appears loyal, but The New Republic's Michael Tomasky believes that the rot will ultimately burst the bubble.
Writing on Monday, Tomasky walked through the current state of the nation just 10 months before the election. He noted the "corrupt and incompetent president" who will likely do "everything he can to nullify the election."
While last year was bad, Tomasky thinks 2026 will be far worse. The good news, however, is "he can't do this forever." Even Trump has publicly backed down in recent weeks, though it hasn't yet changed any policies that prompted the backlash in the first place. While a leadership change in Minnesota ushered in a different speaker for press conferences, those calling the shots from Washington remain.
Tomasky thinks that even Trump can't continue like this and that his power is on shakier ground than ever.
Over the past week, Alternet reported a shift in poll numbers showing growing dissatisfaction with Trump among Republican voters.
First, there's Trump's personal decline, Tomasky began. The press focuses largely on the bruises on his hands, the low-energy speeches, and his alleged falling asleep in meetings. The Obama-apes video repost is framed less as savvy trolling and more as evidence he is "losing his marbles," while a cowed mainstream press averts its gaze. "He's losing it."
Tomasky's second point is that Trump's own unique craziness has always meant a suspension of disbelief, but he's increasingly moving into a whole new reality, and his supporters may not be willing to go that far. A conspiracy theory here and there is one thing, but struggling families may not be able to pretend the economy is going well when they can't afford rent or groceries.
The third point, he said, is that the corruption is growing "more blatant" each week. The most recent example was the UAE sheikh making a massive investment in the Trump family's crypto venture, after which he was handed an AI chip deal. "We now live in an era where the president can do a Teapot Dome or worse on a weekly basis, and there's no one who can hold him to account," he wrote.
Then there are the investigation files from Jeffrey Epstein's probe. Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) announced online over the weekend that the unredacted files show Trump's name 38,000 times. While Trump's approval has begun to dip, Tomasky confessed, "I have no idea what the chances are that one fine morning this year we will be greeted by an explosive headline about Trump in this context that will blow our collective minds and change everything."
Finally, Tomasky said that it's clear Trump is setting up his plan to steal the 2026 election. It's unclear whether he'll be successful, but "he will try." If it doesn't work, there will be more fraud claims. There might be another version of Jan. 6 where Trump can motivate his followers to stop the swearing in of a Democratic Congress if they take back the majority.
He closed by saying, "This year is going to be far worse than last, at least for a while."