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Donald Trump cannot help himself. After months of saying that “he was not on the ballot,” he has exceeded his vituperation of opponents from earlier campaigns. He denounces his critics in an unusually harsh fashion, using misogyny and bigotry as a staple. He casually defends Vivek Ramaswamy’s cruel mocking of a rape and incest victim. Against Abdul El Sayed, the excessive rhetoric exposes a gross vein of meanness in Trump. Unlike his old peppery comments, the Donald has gone overboard.
In this, he resembles President Andrew Johnson in the1866 midterms. During his pathetic "swing around the circle," Johnson's foul comments were so excessive that they provoked angry mobs. He denounced “Radical” Republicans such as Thaddeus Stevens, Charles Sumner, and Wendell Phillips in unusually malicious terms that anticipated Trump in 2026. And if that wasn’t grim enough, Trump has resorted to outright corruption. The President promises patronage and $5,000 to GOP voters, if the GOP wins. Worse, if that isn’t enough, he has the already-jaded Justice Department threaten to annul an Alaska Senate election if the Democrats win.
Merging threats with the “Santa Claus is coming to town” adds a different dimension to Trump’s campaigning style. By doing this, he appears that he is the swamp, not like the man who promised to drain it. If anything, he resembles “Big Brother” from George Orwell’s dystopian novel. His frightening rhetoric makes it seem that a frightening future is not only possible but likely.
What makes Trump’s efforts appear more bizarre than previous years is that it is unnecessary. He refuses to acknowledge the party’s vulnerability in this election cycle. Trump is ever content to throw his GOP colleagues under the bus. As usual, it is all about him. Given inflation, endless wars, and divisive rhetoric, Trump does not appreciate that the situation is different. Perhaps Trump, like Johnson in 1866, does this because, in his heart of hearts, he is not a Republican. Johnson, who succeeded Abraham Lincoln in April 1865, was not a Republican. When he refused to join Tennessee after it seceded in May 1861, Johnson became a symbol of a Union-First Democratic Senator. In 1864, Lincoln ran on the Union party ticket and brought Johnson aboard as his Vice President. When Johnson became President, he joined a government filled with Republicans. Trump, who is MAGA, is no more a GOP regular than Johnson.
Which might explain Trump’s verbal assaults on his critics. He used to display a lightness in his comments. It resembled harsh satire rather than heavy vituperation. This year he has gone off the rails.
Trump’s anger might be fueled by his foolishness in following Benjamin Netanyahu’s lead in the attack on Iran. For one thing, this unnecessary conflict created the “endless wars” he denounced in 2024, and he added insult to injury by declaring “victory,” only to see his best plans turn to mush. Moreover, it restarted a wave of inflation and put the brakes on the Stock Market boom.
As a result, he has been reduced to waging a puerile culture war that makes him appear erratic and vintage. The GOP’s collaboration makes them wallow in the mire, engaging in mindless and Sophomoric appeals. Trump has been reduced to base demagoguery. He no longer appeals to the front-row Joes. Gone is his originality; thus, he has succumbed to old-fashioned GOP scare and smear tactics. He is no longer original; he is simply a Party hack.