I’d chosen this week’s winner even before Donald Trump’s announcement that he’d be running for president again, but it’s particularly apt in light of that. It’s a powerful meme that not only points to the truth of the former president’s narcissism and complete failure of leadership, but also effectively triggers the emotions of those who continue to support the man and those who don’t alike. The only thing that prevents it from being a perfect meme is the execution of the dialogue balloon. 9/10.
Speaking of Donald Trump’s announcement, Trouble Man and Neon Revolt helpfully summarized his speech last night.
TROUBLE MAN: I’ll give you a summary of Trump’s speech so you don’t need to waste your time: “What they’re doing to our country, rigged elections, high gas prices, southern border, wars, etc. is so sad. I did the best for black and asians and hispanics. Nobody’s done better (No mention of Whites). I did such good things for israel with the Abraham accords. Nobody’s better for israel. They’ve done nothing to fix election fraud since I walked away from a hijacked election in 2020 and your countrymen are still political prisoners… But despite that, we’re still gonna pretend we have legitimate elections and I’m gonna run again in 2024!”
NEON REVOLT: No one wants to say it, but I will. Trump doesn’t sound like he has his heart in this. There’s also the glaring issue of voter fraud. I see no evidence of anything being done to deal with this, the most important issue, affecting all our elections. Right now, with this level of energy, and with the way things are rigged, this all feels like an exercise in futility.
Don’t get me wrong. The man was a very, very good president, the best of the 20th and 21st centuries combined. But that doesn’t change the fact that Donald Trump failed in his stated objective to make America great again, he failed morally when he embraced the vaxx and subjected his countrymen to its destructive consequences, and he failed as a leader when he refused to pardon the January 6th demonstrators while pardoning con artists, scammers, and rappers.