Trump has found a new way to contradict reality

The former president’s refusal to go toe-to-toe with Kamala again is indicative of a much deeper problem with his campaign strategy, writes Ryan Coogan

Donald has just ducked out of a second debate against Kamala Harris – presumably because he remembered the trouncing he got during the first round (although he seems to think that Hannibal Lecter is a real person, so that’s a coin toss).

His reasoning? Why, because he “clearly” won the first debate, of course, so he doesn’t see a need for a second one. You know, the debate where he said that immigrants are roaming the country looking for pets to eat, and talked about executing newborns? Those are all the signs of a slam dunk victory, baby...

Trump, ever the compassionate sparring partner, thinks that his opponent should "focus" on her job as vice president, instead of coming up with new ways to eviscerate him on national television. Harris, on the other hand, seems to disagree, telling a campaign rally in North Carolina that the two "owe" voters another debate, because "what is at stake could not be more important" (with “what is at stake” presumably being an opportunity to figure out if Trump thinks Springfield, Ohio, is where Homer Simpson lives).

I’m not sure why Trump ever agreed to a debate in the first place. Sure, he did well against Biden, but if we’re being honest a child’s drawing of Trump would have done well against Biden. When he isn’t facing somebody who seems to be in the throes of cognitive decline, the format doesn’t exactly suit Trump’s style.

A debate is supposed to be about trading off competing – but true – information, and using it to construct a sound argument. Trump’s idea of a sound argument, however, is saying something that he would like to be true, and then sticking his fingers in his ears and humming The Apprentice theme tune until his opponent gets bored and moves on.

That might have worked for him in 2016, when debate moderators weren’t used to the idea of a political candidate brazenly making things up on the spot, but we’re used to his schtick now. If he says something untrue, he can be fact-checked and challenged. Of course, he views fact-checking as some kind of conspiracy against him, accusing the ABC moderators of colluding with Kamala to bring him down – but that’s just because the idea of somebody actually doing their job is a foreign concept to him.

He actually makes it easy, too. Everything he says is so black and white, that there’s no room to misinterpret what he’s trying to say or give him the benefit of the doubt. He says the election was rigged, or that he actually secretly won it? No it wasn’t – and no he didn’t. See how easy that was?

According to the Washington Post, Trump told around 30,000 “mistruths” during his first term. He made 503 false or misleading remarks on one day alone – the day before Americans voted him out of office. Lies are all he has.

That’s the thing that scares Trump more than anything. He’s been led to believe – partly by a complicit section of the media, partly by his own hubris – that he’s somehow above the concept of truth. But the second the truth comes to find him, he runs away scared. He isn’t equipped to confront it, he isn’t equipped to confront Kamala – and he definitely isn’t equipped to confront the task of being president again.

Personally, though, I hope we do get a rematch. I’m all for seeing Kamala take him apart again with some more verbal karate (Trump, of course, practices verbal Krav MAGA).

I doubt we will though. If Trump really does want to be president again, the best thing he can do is keep his mouth shut.