Election 2016 took an interesting turn yesterday as the crew on the SS Trumptanic rearranged the deck chairs as his unsinkable campaign continued to scuttle after striking the iceberg of political reality. Following his steady decline in the polls against the weakest Democrat to run for president since Walter Mondale, the captain of the SS Trumptanic has decided to change course . . . by not changing course.
After being advised by concerned Republicans to pivot away from the whiny third-grade bullying narcissist that we have come to know towards a more mature presidential candidate, Trump responded accordingly—not according to their advice, but according to his belief that he is only where he is today (you know, losing in the polls) by being authentic and true to the @realDonaldTrump.
The first chair to be rearranged involved hiring his third campaign manager in the past three months, Kellyanne Conway, a GOP strategist who was already a part of the Trump campaign as an advisor.
The second chair to be rearranged was Paul Manafort, whose $13 million scandal involving Russian and Ukraine got worse with the new revelation that he violated federal law by channeling cash from foreign sources to US lobbyists. Trump kept him on the campaign anyway and gave him a new title of Campaign Chairman.
Two chairs rearranged . . . but not changed.
The last chair to be rearranged is Chairman of Trump Pravda Trumpbart Breitbart, Steve Bannon, who was hired to be the CEO of the Trump campaign. Bannon has been a major supporter of Trump, even before his campaign began, which explains the previous pro-Trump bias of the formerly conservative news outlet founded by Andrew Breitbart.
While this is being touted as a new addition, we have already learned that Bannon has been advising The Donald for several months. In fact, it’s Bannon who recently admonished Trump against pivoting to a more presidential candidate, and instead encouraged him to go full-steam ahead on his current course.
And that’s exactly how Trump plans to proceed, according to a recent interview:
“Everyone talks about, ‘Oh, you’ve got to pivot.’ I don’t want to pivot. I don’t want to change. You have to be you. If you start pivoting, you’re not being honest with people. No, I am who I am. I’ve gotten here in a landslide—and we’ll see what happens.”
Landslide? According to Guy Benson at Townhall.com, that’s a bit of a stretch:
Trump’s “landslide” featured the lowest percentage of the GOP vote since the primary system was overhauled in the early 1970’s, and his throttling in Wisconsin was always expected to be followed by a strong northeastern run. Nobody argued “it was over for Trump.” (emphasis mine)
And here’s a bit of irony for you. Without even realizing it, Trump confirmed our worst fears; he won’t pivot to be more presidential because being presidential isn’t who he is.
Meanwhile, with the chairs rearranged, the band plays on as the SS Trumptanic continues to slowly sink into the sea.
David Leach is the owner of The Strident Conservative, your source for opinion that’s politically-incorrect and always “right.” His articles can also be found on RedState.com.
His daily radio commentary is nationally syndicated with Salem Radio Network and can be heard on stations across America.
