Given rambling speeches and personal attacks over policy talk, supporters wonder if events do more harm than good

As Donald Trump emerged to a thunderous roar of approval in the heart of Pennsylvania’s Rust belt, he was back in his comfort zone among the people who once put him in power.

But by the time he stepped off the stage nearly two hours later, even some of the former US president’s supporters were wondering whether his rallies are doing his re-election campaign more harm than good.

“He reminded me why I’m not going to vote for him this time,” said Jenny, a local businesswoman who did not want to give her full name because she didn’t want to alienate customers.

“I voted for him in 2016 and had a Trump flag in the front yard. I voted for him again in 2020 but didn’t put the flag out that time. I’ve been thinking of voting for him again because Biden’s been so bad for the economy and Kamala won’t be any better. But after listening to that, I’m actually afraid of Trump being president again. I don’t know what he was talking about half the time. Perhaps he was always like that but he seems worse, more unstable.”

  • themeatbridge
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    11518 days ago

    Perhaps he was always like that but he seems worse, more unstable.

    He was always like that, you’re just becoming a better person.

    • @shalafi
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      3918 days ago

      Nah, he’s clearly worse. Saw an article on here where they broke his speech patterns down, looked at repetition, vocabulary, continuity of thought, etc. Trump seems to be going down scary fast.

      It’s always been easier to listen to his speech than read it. At least with listening and watching, you can slip your own meanings into the vague patter. Reading forces you to try and parse meaning, and while there has never been much in his speeches, at least his Tweets were understandable. Now even those seem scrambled.

      • @IchNichtenLichten
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        2318 days ago

        I agree. I guess his decline is hard to catch because it’s not as if he started from a place of formidable intellect and vocabulary anyway but he’s slipped far enough that even some MAGA types are starting to notice.

    • @barsquid
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      1218 days ago

      Nah, they’re also still as awful as they have always been. Just rats starting to notice the ship is sinking.