He did little to quell reports that he is melting down over Harris’s poll numbers.
Amidst reports that he has become ungluedby having to compete with Kamala Harris for the presidency, Donald Trump held a press conference at Mar-a-Lago on Thursday. And if the goal was to reassure people that (1) he is not at all freaked out by the vice president’s rising poll numbers and (2) he is the best candidate for the White House, he was not exactly successful!
Trump repeatedly insulted Harris’s intelligence, calling her “barely competent,” saying that she “can’t do a news conference” because “she’s not smart enough,” and claiming that she’s “not as smart” as Joe Biden. (As a reminder, Trump thinks there were airports during the Revolutionary War and that it’s safe to inject bleach into the body; he’s also been described as an idiot by numerous people who worked for him.)
And the press loves it.
Obviously.
All the major networks covered this live. None of them covered the Harris rally that happened right after. Some did fact checking afterward. That’s after most people stop watching.
The reporters often asked useless softball questions, like asking him to comment about his upcoming interview with Musk.
When there was a serious question, he simply didn’t answer. There was one about abortion and he said he would answer later. There was one about whether an an abortion drug should be banned. He gave a rambling response that seemed to be about something else.
Compare this to a typical Biden press conference where the reporters are rude and yell out questions and push back and tell Biden that he isn’t answering the question.
The press is afraid of Trump and complicit with his criminal behavior and complicit in the ignorance of the voters.
Well yeah, it generates engagement which they can then show their advertisers.