Donald Trump melted down in real time on Tuesday night, peppering his Truth Social account with a slew of angry posts and manic memes during the vice presidential debate between Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Ohio Sen. JD Vance.
The Republican presidential nominee said Monday that he would be giving a “personal play by play” of the “Brilliant J.D. Vance and the Highly Inarticulate ‘Tampon’ Tim Walz. I hope that Cognitively Challenged, Lyin’ Kamala Harris will be listening so that she can again show the World how she will make up false facts and stories in order to change around an administrative FAILURE!” He, well, delivered on that promise.
Trump smashed that caps lock key and railed against a national abortion ban—even though he has repeatedly dodged answering whether he supports one and praised the idea in private. That’s because he knows American voters widely oppose a ban.
EVERYONE KNOWS I WOULD NOT SUPPORT A FEDERAL ABORTION BAN, UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES, AND WOULD, IN FACT, VETO IT, BECAUSE IT IS UP TO THE STATES TO DECIDE BASED ON THE WILL OF THEIR VOTERS (THE WILL OF THE PEOPLE!). LIKE RONALD REAGAN BEFORE ME, I FULLY SUPPORT THE THREE EXCEPTIONS FOR RAPE, INCEST, AND THE LIFE OF THE MOTHER. I DO NOT SUPPORT THE DEMOCRATS RADICAL POSITION OF LATE TERM ABORTION LIKE, AS AN EXAMPLE, IN THE 7TH, 8TH, OR 9TH MONTH OR, IN CASE THERE IS ANY QUESTION, THE POSSIBILITY OF EXECUTION OF THE BABY AFTER BIRTH. THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS MATTER!
First, why is he yelling at us?
And second, this goes against everything Trump campaigned on and even pushed Congress to legislate during his term as president. He’s not fooling anyone, nor is he likely to win over either side of the aisle with his dishonest flip-flopping and crazed communication style.
Trump is in an uncomfortable spot, as anti-choice extremists have urged him to enact a federal ban.
“Our expectation is that the GOP platform will continue to unequivocally call for national protections for unborn children,” Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of anti-abortion organization Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, told CNN. The group also released a statement in March expressing how “deeply disappointed” they were about Trump previously saying abortion laws should be decided by individual states.
This latest explicit disavowal of a ban could cast a shadow on Trump’s ultrareligious evangelical voter base. In 2020, 8 out of 10 of these voters said they supported him. Trump doesn’t have a prayer of getting 270 electoral votes without them.
Trump’s all-caps screed was also a lie. While in office in 2018, he expressed strong support for a national ban that would’ve banned abortion at 20 weeks, but it did not pass a Senate vote. He vowed his support for a 15-week abortion ban in a March radio interview. And in 2023, Trump said he’s going to be “leading the charge” on anti-choice policy that “the whole country can agree with” in a Newsmax interview.
In typical Trump fashion, he pivoted to ad hominem attacks in order to distract from his flip-flopping.
He went after CBS News and its debate moderators when they correctly asserted Trump filed 62 lawsuits contesting the 2020 election results, and judges and election officials found there was no widespread voter fraud.
“I thought Norah [O’Donnell] was fired from CBS for Low Ratings. Why is she still on?” he posted in between calling Walz “Tampon Tim” twice
Trump had the opportunity to state his positions and sling insults at his own debate on Sept. 10. Instead, he found his bravery behind a keyboard Tuesday rather than in front of his Democratic opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris. In fact, CBS announced that Trump backed out of a scheduled “60 Minutes” interview (Harris’ sitdown is still set to air on Monday). Trump also refuses to participate in a second presidential debate, despite Harris’ urging.
Following Tuesday night’s vice presidential debate and into Wednesday, Trump continued to relentlessly post memes akin to what you might find on your boomer MAGA uncle’s Facebook feed.
It was just more unhinged behavior from a man who is vying to hold the highest office in the free world.
