For three years, countless politicians, foreign leaders, Administration officials, immigrants, and international leaders have been bullied and name-called by the most immature, crass president ever to hold office. Maher points out Trump has been spared the kind of retaliation he deserves. He also said Trump has given the Democrats an enormous amount of reprehensible behaviors to use when readying for the type of dishonest, dirty campaign they will face against him.
Maher showed several examples of dirty, false campaign tactics that Trump used in the 2016 election. His friend, David Pecker, owner of the Enquirer, ran countless ads about Hillary being gravely ill and dying while at the same time claiming she was running a pedophile ring from a pizza parlor. He also claimed Ted Cruz’s father had something to do with the assassination of JFK and threatened to ” spill the beans on Cruz’s wife.” Trump called his Republican candidates weak, liars, and failures (we therapists call that projection) and eluded to having dirt on all of them. Somehow, despite the gutter politics he played, he won.
Trump performs his job as if his stint on the Apprentice never ended. He ridiculed participants on the show, pitted them against each other, and name-called to embarrass and weaken participant chances of being successful.
What is more concerning is millions of Americans are under the spell of Trump’s entertainment skills and overlook his immoral and criminal qualities that have weakened the foundation of our republic. It is also clear the global masses find him obnoxious, unqualified, and a joke.
Maher’s call to fight fire with fire against Trump may offend the Democrat’s identity of professionalism and civility, but it is, unfortunately, a necessary tactic. Shocking as it may be, Trump’s divisive skills have defined new rules for political campaigning. Democrats must accept they cannot show up to a duel without a sword. Trump’s insecurities are so profound he relies on bluster and abusiveness to deflect away from the exposure of his inadequacies.
Some tactical suggestions from Maher about how to fight Trump may be too low brow for some candidates, but they are reminders of how dirty Trump can get;
– Having Stormy Daniel’s and the 25 women who accused him of sexual assault sit upfront at his appearances.
– Announce concern about his cognitive abilities by showing a video montage of him mispronouncing words and awkward moments of an inability to complete thoughts.
– Making false or exaggerated statements about him having physical illnesses.
Trump’s narcissism will make it difficult to cope with assaults on his image. A narcissist needs to be admired and accepted by others, so public ridicule could cause him to mentally decompensate. The suggestions by Maher do not require lying. These ideas all come from actual mean-spirited attacks Trump has used on others.
None of these strategies are preferred by people who are intelligent and emotionally well. Dignified people are sad that our national discourse has been damaged by Trump’s lack of character. However, Democrats have to be prepared to give Trump a dose of his own medicine and then make amends for it after they take back the White House.
