We Should Just Let Him Talk

Trump’s bizarre, incomprehensible rants at his rallies continue. They shouldn’t go unchallenged.

Trump delivered more speeches over the weekend, and hoo boy.

While Joe Biden was huddled in debate prep with his advisors, Donald Trump spent the weekend in Philadelphia, where he addressed a smallish crowd at the Liacouras Center at Temple University.

I say smallish because Trump did not fill the auditorium like Joe Biden did when he spoke there in 2022. The Biden Campaign quickly put up a side by side comparison showing many empty seats at the Trump rally.

During this speech, Trump regurgitated many of his usual themes: bragging about overturning Roe v. Wade, falsely claiming the 2020 election was stolen, and promising deportation of 11 million undocumented immigrants. These subjects are deeply problematic, and they may actually turn off a lot of the very voters Trump hopes will break his way in November.

But today I want to talk about how deeply weird Trump’s speeches are and how objectively unbalanced he sounds. In some ways, that’s nothing new, but believe it or not, a lot of Americans haven’t been paying attention to the election, or understandably have intentionally blocked him out. As the campaign heats up, they’re going to start to see and hear him more, and the narrative around his rants needs to be established. 

In an election where vibes and gut feelings about the two candidates, both of whom remain highly unpopular, likely will determine the way a big group of undecided “double haters” breaks, Trump’s incoherent narratives could lose him a point or two. And that could tip the entire election. 

Today I’ll highlight and discuss two examples that popped up over the weekend.

Migrant cage matches?

The dehumanization of migrants has been part of Trump’s campaign since he first came down that gold-colored escalator and labeled Mexicans as drug dealers, rapists and murderers. The irony today isn’t lost: a 34-time convicted felon, who is himself an adjudicated rapist, wants to label migrant families as the “criminals.” 

In his speech at Temple University in Philadelphia, Trump predictably harped upon “migrant crime,” which he wants to make a thing, even though it really isn’t. Violent crime is in fact way down across America under Biden, and migrants commit far fewer crimes per capita than U.S.-born Americans.  

But the headlines coming out of his speech, even including one by the New York Times, were focused on what else Trump said about migrants. He claimed he told his friend Dana White, head of the Ultimate Fighting Championship or UFC, that there should be a “migrant league of fighters” and that its champion should fight the UFC’s champion. 

“Why don’t you set up a migrant league of fighters?” Trump said he had asked White. “And then you have the champion of your league — these are the greatest fighters in the world — fight the champion of the migrants? I think the migrant guy might win! That’s how tough they are.”

Trump said that White “didn’t like the idea too much.” But then he added, “It’s not the worst idea I’ve ever had. These are tough people.”

Trump says “tough,” but his true goal is to portray migrants as dangerous and to demean them before his followers. He wants voters to picture them in UFC fighting rings, there solely to amuse and entertain. It is a deeply racist and barbaric portrayal, and with it we’ve officially entered The Hunger Games presidential campaign.

Asked to confirm the story, White did so, but he was quick to add that it was intended and received as a joke. But Trump telling this particular joke to his flock is no laughing matter. In his eyes, and by extension theirs, brown-skinned migrants are meant from birth for brutal cage matches. And while that idea might appeal to his largely white, racist base, it does little to win over ethnic minorities, particularly the Latino voters whom Trump seeks as a new demographic of supportive voters.

Trump’s “joke” may have been intended to evoke laughter from the MAGA crowd and make them feel superior, but it could backfire, provoking outrage from community leaders and the Latino voters to whom his critics can now convey this story. Paired with Trump’s nostalgia for “Operation Wetback” and his ongoing threats to deport millions in vulnerable immigrants, including many who are legally here, Trump risks energizing the Latino vote against him in key swing states like Nevada and Arizona, with his own words used in attack ads.

In short, ”migrants in cages” just got a new meaning, and it’s once again a terrible look for Trump.

Washing machines for dishes

Another story out of Philly is up there with Trump’s bizarre obsession with sharks and batteries. Before the crowd at Temple University, Trump rambled for some time about low pressure in showers and “no water” in the washing machines you put dishes in (otherwise known as a “dishwasher,” which I suspect he has never used). You can watch his strange digression here:

It finally got so weird that Fox, which was covering the speech live, actually cut away from him mid-sentence so that its viewers wouldn’t see how truly unhinged he is. Here is a clip of that awkward moment.

I’ve made this point before, but it bears repeating: If Joe Biden said anything remotely similar, it would be clear evidence that he has lost his marbles. Your drunk uncle at the wedding delivers more purposeful monologues than Donald Trump. And yet voters consistently tell pollsters that they worry more about Biden’s mental fitness than Trump’s, demonstrating the power of right-wing media disinformation.

Trump’s low water rant is part of a larger theme that the GOP are on about. Early this year, instead of bringing Ukraine funding to the floor, the House focused on legislation to “protect” home appliances (the Hands Off Our Home Appliances or HOOHA Act—no, really) where they told voters that the government is preparing to restrict our water use and take away our gas stoves in the name of energy efficiency and addressing climate change. This unfounded fear of “big government” is certainly rich coming from the party that wants to restrict our contraceptions and strip away our rights to IVF and abortion.

Trump’s version of the appliance wars is largely incomprehensible, but he somehow manages to still make the low water pressure story about his “beautiful luxuriant hair,” which the cultish MAGA audience then dutifully cheers and applauds. That may be his real hair on his head, albeit with some modifications, but honestly “luxuriant” wouldn’t be the first word I’d use to describe it.

This isn’t meant to mock Trump’s appearance. Okay, maybe just a little, since it’s so absurd. Instead, it’s intended to point out how he always fixates on entirely random things and ideas (remember how wind turbines are supposedly killing the whales?), then proceeds to tell lies about himself for no reason—other than he can’t seem to help it.

It’s fair to ask when all of this gibberish might catch up to Trump and cost him politically. A good time would be as early as this Thursday, when CNN will host the first presidential debate between the presumptive party nominees. The agreed-upon format isn’t favorable to Trump, with no studio audience and no way to interrupt the other speaker because mics will be turned off while the other candidate is responding to questions.

If I were CNN, I would ask the candidates to reassure voters that their own health and cognitive functions are intact. Biden can have a chance to explain that he walks stiffly because of a foot injury and arthritis in his spine, and that he does utter the occasional gaffe like someone who is 81 might be expected to.

Trump’s mental decline is more pronounced. So for him, I would cite examples that have concerned voters, from thinking he is running against Barack Obama to confusing Nikki Haley and Nancy Pelosi. I would ask him to explain to the nation why he goes on at his rallies about sharks and boat batteries, migrant cage matches, washing machines for dishes with no water, and whales dying from wind turbines. 

Challenge him to make it make sense, and then gauge what the American people really think.

It could prove quite illuminating.