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Rage Against the Dying of the Light

WASHINGTON, DC - OCTOBER 5: President Donald J. Trump salutes to Marine One from the Truman Balcony as he returns home after receiving treatments for the covid-19 coronavirus at Walter Reed National Military Medical ... WASHINGTON, DC - OCTOBER 5: President Donald J. Trump salutes to Marine One from the Truman Balcony as he returns home after receiving treatments for the covid-19 coronavirus at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, at the White House on Monday, Oct 05, 2020 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images) MORE LESS
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October 6, 2020 10:00 a.m.
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President Trump seems to be knocking off iconic (and not in a good way) moments in rapid succession now: the Lafayette Park church stunt in June, the slow speed base runabout in his armored SUV two days ago, and then last night’s Triumph of the Will manque set piece with Trump, bathed in light but also clearly struggling to breathe, triumphantly reentering the White House and confidently tossing off his mask. While the June incident long predated Trump’s personal health crisis, each moment shares a common theme: Trumpian efforts to demonstrate strength and dominance which fail because they claim too much, because Trump is in fact weak. And it shows.

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