Amid ongoing debate about President Joe Biden’s cognition and what that means for his candidacy, it may seem like Donald Trump has embraced the decidedly non-Trump strategy of being quiet and avoiding attention.
But for the first time in a long time, the media has eased up on scrutinizing the antics of the twice-impeached, coup-attempting, felonious former president.
New York Times correspondent Maggie Haberman told CNN on Monday that the lack of attention is surely getting under Trump’s skin.
“He doesn’t like being out of the news cycle,” Haberman told CNN’s Kaitlan Collins.
“I think that he just wants the narrative to be back on him,” she added. “And I think that he’s feeling better about the idea that the race is going to be him versus Biden.”
On Truth Social, Trump’s social media site, Trump’s been plenty active, having posted or reshared 37 times in the last 24 hours alone. Among his posts are:
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Numerous links to opinion pieces in far-right outlets arguing he’s immune to prosecution and should be exonerated from the 34-count felony conviction handed down in his New York hush-money trial.
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A post from New Gingrich “humbly thanking God” for Trump, whom the former GOP House Speaker suggests has been guided by “the hand of God” to preserve the union, like presidents Abraham Lincoln and George Washington.
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A boast about a Trump boat parade having more boats than a (hypothetical) Biden boat parade.
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Amusingly, a link to a Breitbart article complaining about how far-right French politician Marine Le Pen’s party won the most votes in Sunday’s election, but was awarded the third-most seats. (Recall that Trump won the presidency in 2016 despite losing the popular vote).
Trump also appears to have heavily influenced the RNC’s 2024 platform, adopted Monday, suggesting he’s playing an active role behind the scenes as well. Among other things, the platform pledges to “CARRY OUT THE LARGEST DEPORTATION OPERATION IN AMERICAN HISTORY,” “END THE WEAPONIZATION OF GOVERNMENT AGAINST THE AMERICAN PEOPLE,” “CANCEL THE ELECTRIC VEHICLE MANDATE,” and “KEEP MEN OUT OF WOMEN’S SPORTS.”
Trump also shared on Monday his pretaped phone interview with Sean Hannity, in which his opening observation about the debate involved Biden’s complexion.
“He looked extremely pale, to put it nicely,” Trump told Hannity. “Maybe it was a good makeup job or maybe it wasn’t, but he was a very pale-looking man.”
Trump expressed his hope that Biden would remain in the race, hinting that his campaign may be delaying the announcement of his vice presidential pick pending the president’s ultimate decision on whether to keep running.
