Is Trump Cracking Under the Pressure of the Election?

Trump has repeatedly stumbled during the first couple of weeks of the general election

Donald Trump made it through the Republican primary largely unscathed. He never had to get on a debate stage or adopt a position to outflank a rival. Primaries are usually messy, and the winners often emerge battered, bruised, and broken. Trump floated above the process, and his rivals' impotence made him look strong by comparison.

The dynamic was interesting. Trump used his MAGA schtick to lock down his base without catching the attention of the broader electorate. He mostly communicated through MAGA-friendly media; so even when he made a mistake, it never traveled outside the MAGA media bubble. There was a sense that Trump had become a better, more disciplined candidate than in his two prior campaigns. Trump did show up to big moments like that CNN town hall better prepared and with a semblance of a strategy. On the campaign trail, he followed the script a little more and didn’t step on his message of the day. In other words, he behaved more like a typical candidate and less like a raving lunatic driven by an underlying urge to sabotage himself.

These small improvements in his performance were worrisome.

However, since the General Election kicked off almost two weeks ago, Trump has returned to his old, chaotic, self-destructive ways. After securing the delegates as the presumptive nominee, Trump has made critical errors daily. He can’t seem to stop saying insane, deeply politically damaging stuff. In the last two weeks, Trump has said:

• He was open to cutting Social Security if elected;

• There would be a “bloodbath” if he lost the election;

• He would pardon the January 6th rioters on his first day in office;

• He doesn’t think immigrants are “people;” and

• “Any Jewish person that votes for Democrats hates their religion. They hate everything about Israel and they should be ashamed of themselves because Israel will be destroyed.”

Trump controversies tend to burn hot and fast. They dominate the political conversation and then are quickly overtaken by what comes next. Therefore, I organized them all in one place to show off his instability.

Relatedly, if I had a billion dollars, I would offer every undecided voter in the six battleground states $500 to watch this entire Trump rally in Ohio.

Is the old Trump back? Did the ivermectin wear off? Or is he cracking under the pressure and scrutiny of a general election?

Well, Trump didn’t change. He is just as unhinged as ever, but now people are paying more attention. Trump is cracking under the intense scrutiny of the General Election. Here’s what’s going on: