Donald Trump spent Monday morning labeling the turmoil in the global financial markets the “Kamala Crash,” giving Republicans hope that he might turn his focus to an economic message.

It didn’t last. By midday, the former president was already back to re-litigating his controversial appearance in Chicago last week, where he questioned Kamala Harris’ Black identity and suggested a major network journalist should be fired — “I didn’t know who she was, she was nasty,” he told a livestreamer.

Republicans on Monday reeled from Trump’s undisciplined approach to the opening stages of his new general election matchup with Harris — following a weekend that saw him praise Russian leader Vladimir Putin while smearing Harris as “low IQ,” and “dumb” and attacking a popular swing-state GOP governor whose turnout operation he may need in November.

“This is what you would call a public nervous breakdown,” said Matthew Bartlett, a GOP strategist and former Trump administration appointee. “This is a guy who cut through the Republican primary like a knife through butter. This is a guy who pummeled a semi-conscious president in a debate and literally out of a race. And now this is a guy who cannot come to grips with a competitive presidential race that would require discipline and effective messaging. And we’re seeing a candidate and a campaign absolutely melt down.”

  • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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    3 months ago

    This is a guy who pummeled a semi-conscious president in a debate and literally out of a race.

    Yeah… no he didn’t. They just knew they couldn’t get enough Democrats energized to vote. And that was totally due to Biden and nothing to do with what Trump did.

    • Doom@ttrpg.network
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      3 months ago

      I truly believe for anyone watching the debate that golf conversation was the end of both of their political careers.

      • acchariya@lemmy.world
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        3 months ago

        The golf debate was the wtf are we even doing moment for me. It turned out to be a very powerful moment that allowed a new democratic candidate to rise above two old men blathering about their golf game.

      • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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        3 months ago

        I admit I didn’t watch it and I only scanned the coverage because I really didn’t think it was going to change people’s minds enough for Biden to drop out, although I clearly was wrong.

        So what was the golf conversation?

        • swim@slrpnk.net
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          3 months ago

          Oh yeah well im bigly better at gulf than you

          What? What? Fat chance, jack

          etc.

            • Doom@ttrpg.network
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              3 months ago

              Honestly watch it. The whole debate is rough and then we hit this and I could feel the souls of Americans just huff. The whole debate Trump is saying nothing nonsense with no point. Biden is half awake and limping through it. Then this insane conversation takes place

              https://youtu.be/5VyAfQBV2_c?feature=shared

              At any moment any one of them could’ve bodied the other in this conversation and probably won the presidency if you had anyone more reasonable, intelligent, lucid there that would’ve been such a moment. Instead I’m sweating from cringe. With the state of everything, why the fuck are you arguing about golf?

              • Buddahriffic@lemmy.world
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                3 months ago

                Wow, I hadn’t watched any of it either but damn. Trump just being Trump by bragging about shit that only sounds impressive or meaningful to dumb people and then Biden, looking good until he opened his mouth, showed that maybe he should even resign right now because he’s not all there and barely has any energy.

                At some point, if we live long enough, there’s a sudden and drastic decline where we go from just an older version of ourselves to elderly. Looks like Biden hit that point sometime during his current term.

                I wonder if he’s the first president to do so. Reagan had Alzheimer’s, which can be worse mentally, but I don’t know if he had the physical decline also.

                That said, elderly Biden would still have been a better option than Trump. Not great (I don’t think the Democrats will ever offer an option that threatens the status quo), but better than Trump.