With six days left before the midterm election, President Donald Trump is traveling to red states to try to mobilize what's left of his supporters. But one political expert said a key part of his rallies is really about filling a void in his soul.
Michael A. Cohen, director of the International Affairs Program at The New School, spoke with The New Republic's Greg Sargent on the Wednesday morning "Daily Blast" podcast about Trump's slippage in popularity and subsequent delusions.
In Texas on Tuesday, Trump visited "deep, deep red territory," Sargent cited.
"It's obvious this is just playing triage," Cohen said of the last-minute scramble from the GOP to shore up what's left of Trump's base.
But in doing so, Trump's rally appearances have revealed a lot about his personal delusion.
In Texas, Trump described America as making huge money due to the war in Iran, but many in the audience didn't appear to buy it, if the smattering of applause was any indication. Then he said he was considering renaming the Strait of Hormuz after himself to represent American dominance.
"So, putting aside the crazy details here, the bigger message that Trump is sending with this is that everything he's doing with the war in Iran is a world historical success that's making everyone rich," said Sargent. "He's scribbling new names on his little globe and that displays genuine American dominance. He really thinks this is all perceived as success. As has success. As success for our country. It's delusional in that sense."
Cohen said that on the bright side, Trump isn't talking about Sen. Jon Husted's posterior anymore.
"What has been obvious for at least the last two years is that Trump simply does not care about what Americans care about," Cohen continued. "He cares about his ego, he cares about his vanity projects like his ballroom and his arch and his golf course he wants to build in Washington D.C. He cares about going after his political rivals and his enemies and he wrote a 1300 word post Tuesday about Bill Maher. I mean, this is not a guy who has his finger on the pulse of the country."
What's more striking, he said, is that Trump is desperately trying to turn the presidency into his own personal project to fill his own emptiness.
"What I am struck by is he doesn't even seem to care. This is basically what he's turned the presidency into, sort of, an ego-stroking exercise, and that's all this is for him. There's no message coming out of the White House that is actually intended to appeal to non-hardcore MAGA voters. That's where Trump is now and, I mean you see this in these clips. He's just — it's free association, but on topics that aren't even related to the issues that voters care about," Cohen added.
Sargent said that when Trump hears the crowd cheer about his new names on maps or for his war in Iran, "he thinks that that's what America thinks."
"A good part of the reason that he ran again is to go to these rallies and to get validation from his audiences. That's what motivates him more than anything else. That's why he does so many of these events. Because they are validating and affirming to him and they are ways of filling the limitless void that's missing in his soul. So, I think that's one part of what is going on here. That he is, again, he is just trying to stroke his ego," said Cohen.
