Is this latest scandal the one to neuter Trump? Don’t bet on it

The former president has a penchant for surviving bad press, even when he’s done the unthinkable, writes David Taintor

Donald Trump and Kanye West meet in the Oval Office in 2018 (AFP via Getty)

Is Donald Trump’s disastrous dinner with rapper Kanye West and white supremacist Nick Fuentes the final nail in the coffin for the former president’s future electoral prospects? You might think so, given the chorus of condemnation emanating from prominent Republicans over the past week. But don’t hold your breath.

Trump has a penchant for surviving scandals. Remember the Access Hollywood tape during the 2016 campaign, when the press and pundit class wrote him off as a candidate? Or after he denigrated war hero and Senator John McCain (a mistake that did ultimately cost him Arizona)? Or after Trump said there were “very fine people” on both sides of the white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia where a counter protester was killed? Despite his myriad own goals, the 45th president remains the standard bearer of the Republican Party and the most likely candidate to secure the GOP nomination in 2024.

But amid all the negative attention around that recent meal at Mar-a-Lago, Trump does appear weaker. During his 2024 announcement earlier this month, even Fox News cut away from what felt like a tired and rehearsed speech. Even Trump himself didn’t seem to have his heart in it. And some of his closest family members and advisers didn’t bother showing up. After the announcement, Ivanka Trump said she would no longer participate in politics and would sit out her father’s campaign.