Members-Only ArticleFrom TPM Reader WH …
I was going to hold off on replying to your call for De-Trumpifying stories, but the response from reader BW really hit home and heartened me to share this.
I can vividly remember tuning in to the first GOP debate in 2015 and having my schadenfreude boomerang right back at me as soon as it became clear that none of the candidates or moderators knew how to respond to Trump’s bullying and buffoonery (or the audience’s enthusiasm for it). It immediately took me back to my stepdad—the easily disprovable lies about his own accomplishments and equally outrageous fabrications to disparage others, someone who rarely brought in any sort of income but spent freely on things ordered off late-night TV, a man who used his height and baggy clothes to hide flab and exude dominance. My stepdad even had a very weird combover system going on, except for days when he opted for a “NO SPIN ZONE” hat. So a lot of overlap.