Dem
47
GOP
53
It seems pretty obvious to us that when things are not going well for Donald Trump, he becomes insecure (even if he denies it). This seems doubly true when the thing that is not going well is his approval rating, since that is a judgment of the man himself, and only indirectly a judgment of his actions or his policies. In these circumstances, he and his underlings tend to respond with things that are clearly intended to boost his image. Whether this is for the benefit of voters, or The Donald, or both, we are not always sure.
There have been a few very high-profile developments on this front in the last 24 hours or so. The first of those involves Trump once again adapting the decor of the White House in service of his ego. Presumably, everyone remembers that, a few weeks ago, Trump had his staff add a "Walk of Fame" to the colonnade that runs between the Oval Office and the executive residence. At that time, he stoked his ego by putting a picture of an autopen in the frame meant for Joe Biden. Clever, clever!
Now, on Trump's instigation, plaques have been added beneath the photos. And, according to Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, Trump himself wrote the text of some of the plaques. This is very believable, given both the content and the arbitrary capitalizations. Here, for example, is what now appears beneath the Biden frame:
Here's what the two plaques say:
Sleepy Joe Biden was, by far, the worst President in American History. Taking office as a result of the most corrupt Election ever seen in the United States, Biden oversaw a series of unprecedented disasters that brought our Nation to the brink of destruction. His policies caused the highest Inflation ever recorded, leading the U.S. Dollar to lose more than 20% of its value in 4 years. His Green New Scam surrendered American Energy Dominance and, by abolishing the Southern Border, Biden let 21 million people from all over the World pour into the United States, including from prisons, jails, mental institutions, and insane asylums. His Afghanistan Disaster was among the most humiliating events in American History, and resulted in the murder of 13 brave American Servicemembers, with many others gravely wounded. Seeing Biden's devastating weakness, Russia invaded Ukraine, and Hamas terrorists launched the heinous October 7th attack on Israel.
Nicknamed both "Sleepy" and "Crooked," Joe Biden was dominated by his Radical Left handlers. They and their allies in the Fake News Media attempted to cover up his severe mental decline, and his unprecedented use of the Autopen. Following his humiliating debate loss to President Trump in the big June 2024 debate, he was forced to withdraw from his campaign for re-election in disgrace. Biden weaponized Law Enforcement against his political opponent, while also persecuting many other innocent people. He left office issuing blanket pardons to Radical Democrat criminals and thugs, as well as members of the Biden Crime Family. But despite it all, President Trump would get Re-Elected in a Landslide, and SAVE AMERICA!
Needless to say, it's pretty fast and loose with the facts.
Before we move to the substance, let's first talk about aesthetics. Some of the presidents get one plaque. Some, the text flows across two. The text is flowed in such a way that it presses right up against the right and left edges of the frame, though often leaving lots of extra space at the top and bottom. Is there nobody in this White House who knows the basics of typesetting? You give each portrait ONE plaque. You pick a size, and you make sure to write text that is correct for that size (whether that means padding it out, or editing it down, as needed). You use consistent spacing around all four edges, and enough (at least half an inch) to give the text some room to breathe. These plaques look like they were done by someone who was only halfway through the first lecture in Graphic Design 101. Maybe the utter lack of aesthetic sensibilities explains why Chief of Staff Susie Wiles & Co. did not anticipate how badly their Vanity Fair photos were going to look.
As to the substance, we assume that at least part of the goal is to let Trump feel better about himself. Writing nasty things about people we don't like, and commemorating those nasty things in bronze, would not do much for us, but apparently it works for him. But if it was ONLY for him, then it would be placed in the private residence, and reporters would not be invited in to admire the plaques. So clearly, the whole display must be meant, at least in part, for the general public. And that being the case, is there ANY way this is a net positive for him, politically? The people who believe these things already believed them, plaques or no. Meanwhile, for everyone else, the whole thing—the content, the lack of aesthetics, the very creation of a Walk of Fame—just looks pathetic, right? We've written many times that Trump's presidency, and Trumpism, will die by a thousand cuts. And for some people sitting on the fence, this is surely going to contribute to the perception that either he's a very small man, or that he's losing his marbles.
And let us pause here to note that if readers think we have the wrong of it, we are happy to hear the counterarguments at comments@electoral-vote.com. Most things that Trump does, we can squint our eyes and see how it MIGHT work out for him. But this? We can't come up with anything.
Of course, the plaques are not the only thing Trump spends his time on. He is the president, after all, and he has to multitask. So, he's also hard at work on plans for a triumphal arch, which is going to be called the Trump Arch, and is set to be unveiled during Freedom 250 next year. The President has actually already alluded to the project a few times, but now he has an adorable, hand-sized model (even OK for very small hands) that he can wave around. It looks very much like the Arc de Triomphe, which was built to honor Napoleon, and which is undoubtedly Trump's inspiration. Since he's not very good at history, it's fair to say he probably doesn't know how Napoleon ended up. Maybe someone should clue him in. In any case, there's nothing more impressive than building a monument to yourself, right? Just ask Kim Jong-Un or Joseph Stalin.
Moving along, Trump was also granted another "honor" yesterday. And while it wasn't directly by his own hand, it might as well have been. The board of directors of the Kennedy Center, which has been populated entirely with Trump sycophants, voted to rename the venue as The Donald J. Trump and The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts. Trump said he was "surprised" and "honored" and took to his still-stuck-in-1963-at-least-when-it-comes-to-race social media platform to brag that even though the Kennedy center has many directors, they unanimously voted for the name change. Wow! Note that "unanimous" comes with an asterisk, since the Democrats who are ex oficio members of the board were muted when the vote took place. But hey, what's a little cooking of the books among friends?
We are going to take the exact same position here that we took with the plaques and the Arc de Trump. Anyone who is at all impressed by this (and that simply can't be THAT many people) was already a hardcore Trump voter and would never vote for the Democrats. The entire rest of the country either took no notice, or else thinks it's pathetic. If people don't know you're pulling the strings (like, say, when then-Representative Lyndon B. Johnson arranged to be awarded the Silver Star), then maybe you can get some good PR out of it. But when you so obviously take steps designed to produce a result (and then you act surprised when it happens)? C'mon. This is no more a feather in his cap than that FIFA Peace Prize. Though again, we're open to hearing from readers at comments@electoral-vote.com if you think we've missed the mark.
We will also add that the name change is illegal. Not in a general sense, but very specifically so. The legislation that created the Kennedy Center added a section to the U.S. Code specifically laying out the rules for the venue. And it says "Except as provided in paragraph (2) of this subsection, the Board shall assure that after December 2, 1983, no additional memorials or plaques in the nature of memorials shall be designated or installed in the public areas of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts." Meanwhile, paragraph (2) makes clear that the only things allowed are plaques, etc. that acknowledge donors. The board most certainly does not have the authority to make it the Kennedy and [X] center, no matter who that [X] might be.
The legal experts who were consulted on this development yesterday agreed that the Kennedy Center board broke the rules, but wondered who might have standing to bring the matter before a judge. We think the Kennedy family could certainly try it, and they do have the money to hire the best representation out there. But, more importantly, the more of this ridiculous stuff that Trump does, the easier it is for the next president to wipe the slate clean. "The presidency, and the executive residence, belong to the American people, and I am going to change back everything that says otherwise, from the East Wing ballroom to the triumphal arch to the Kennedy center to the 'Presidential Walk of Fame.'" (Z)