Kamala Harris gets it. Yes, we should fear Trumpā€”but we should also mock him mercilessly, because it drives him nuts.

Donald Trump is in free-fall. ReadĀ this descriptionĀ from Sundayā€™sĀ Washington PostĀ of how the GOP nominee spent last week: ā€œ[A]ides did not want a situation where he was watching the convention every night, getting angry, and then just golfing all day and stewing, according to people who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss private interactions. Trump also had grown annoyed with the news coverage that depicted him as not working as hard as his opponent, one person who talked to him said.ā€

If you didnā€™t know that the article was about Trump and you just read it cold without knowledge of the context, you might think it was a description of parents trying to figure out how to handle an ungovernable four-year-old. So they convinced Trump to get out of Bedminster and hit the road, trading suck-ups with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. In the past, TrumpĀ has calledĀ Kennedy the ā€œdumbest memberā€ of the Kennedy family and a ā€œradical left lunatic.ā€ KennedyĀ has calledTrump a ā€œterrible human beingā€ and ā€œprobably a sociopath.ā€

  • yesman@lemmy.world
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    22 days ago

    Trump has been ridiculed the whole time. The only people who treat him as a serious candidate are his supporters and the media. That was true in 2015, thatā€™s true today.

    • RubberDuck@lemmy.world
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      22 days ago

      That is not the impression I got as someone not from the US. I mostly saw scared and angry from democrats, and scared, angry or reverence from the news media. And that seems to be what he thrives on.

      Ridicule came from stuff like the tv comedians and internet sources like YouTubeā€¦ but these are easy enough to ignore.

      Now that the ridicule is coming from the actual establishment, it cannot be ignored.

      I find it very cool that the vile hatred, fearmongering and general dispicable behavior can be countered with joy, ridicule and a general cheerful demeanor.

      Just the other day one of the GOP ghouls came out and actually said there is no joyā€¦ ROFLā€¦ theyā€™re meltingā€¦

      Now dial it up to 11 dems.

      • Mnemnosyne@sh.itjust.works
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        22 days ago

        Yeah, while there was mockery it didnā€™t come from ā€˜officialā€™ sources. They called him serious names and didnā€™t ridicule him. They made it clear he was dangerous, but they also gave him respect like a serious candidate, contender, opponent, rival.

        It probably would have worked from the beginning to just laugh at him, IF it was coming from the actual political establishment. If Clinton had essentially based her entire campaign around ā€˜hahahā€¦oh wait youā€™re serious? Let me laugh harder.ā€™ thereā€™s a good chance he wouldā€™ve crashed and burned before ever getting off the ground, I think.

    • sebsch@discuss.tchncs.de
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      22 days ago

      But having Obama bringing in the size of itā€™s dick is somewhat of a new situation.

      It hilarious and I am sure this does hurt little Donny deep into his heart.

    • bastion@feddit.nl
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      22 days ago

      Youā€™re right. He has been mocked the whole time, and mockery isnā€™t the determining factor.

      He has simply played out his power arc. The same mockery that didnā€™t land before now lands, because heā€™s on the downside.

      Populism depends on emotional support from the people, but if you donā€™t have a framework that actually meets the peoplesā€™ needs (or is effective at controlling them) you just rise as the restless populace tries you, then fall as they toss you aside.