One thing even the staunchest supporters of former President Donald Trump have to admit: Trump is his own worst enemy. He never knows when to stop, and at least 98% of his problems come from his refusal to back away from social media.
Trump took to Truth Social to unleash a tirade over the holiday. He fired off a series of posts on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day that covered a lot of ground, from labeling special counsel Jack Smith as a lunatic to railing against the January 6th Committee.
For good measure, he invited his political adversaries to “rot in Hell.”
A simple “Merry Christmas” would have sufficed. But Trump is fired up and fed up.
Maybe no one else was stirring on Christmas Eve, not even a mouse, but Trump certainly was.
“Joe Biden’s misfits and thugs, like deranged Jack Smith, are coming after me at levels of persecution never seen before in our country,” he began on December 24, going on to mock the January 6th Committee and accuse them of spying and deliberately stacking the deck against him.
He followed up the next day with a Christmas message of cheer, calling the Biden administration “thugs,” listing Biden’s failing policies, and ending with an invitation for Biden and his associates to “rot in Hell.”
But Trump wasn’t done spreading holiday cheer. On Christmas morning, he posted a scathing condemnation of Biden’s “coordinated election interference” with the FBI, DOJ, and Attorneys General before predicting a “big and glorious” victory for MAGA patriots.
It’s Trump through and through. Winning brings out the worst in him, and this time, he was empowered by the Supreme Court’s refusal to expedite a decision regarding his immunity.
Even Al Sharpton crawled out of the cobwebs of obscurity to comment, “I think it shows that these indictments and the civil case, despite his pretense otherwise, has gotten to him.”
It’s the most stunning display of psychosis ever seen in the history of the country. An entire government, from the top down, has politically targeted one man, and his opponents are celebrating that they have “broken” him.
Trump’s “rot in Hell” posts triggered Representative Debbie Dingell (D-MI) to call his message a “pathetic Christmas greeting,” accusing him of adding to the divisiveness in the country.
Her reaction is hardly surprising given that Trump suggested her late husband, the late Representative John Dingell (D-MI), was “looking up from Hell” after he died in 2019.
Following Dingell’s critique of his unique Christmas message, Trump turned his attention to her lack of gratitude after he gave her husband the highest honors for his funeral. He posted that the widow called him in tears because he was willing to “do that for a Democrat.” “She thanked me profusely,” Trump said, noting that within two months, she was back to ranting about him.
While Dingell acknowledged gratitude for the efforts taken by Trump following her husband’s death, such as the symbolic act of lowering flags, she explained at the time that her appreciation did not translate into supporting him in office. She went on to vote for his impeachment at the end of 2019.
There is a danger for Trump when he rants on social media. The average Democrat can’t be bothered to see his messages for themselves, waiting for CNN or MSNBC to tell them how to feel about his posts. While listing Biden’s failures, Trump mentioned the administration’s “EV lunacy” as a factor in the nation’s deterioration. Liberals quickly spun the comment into a call for all EV supporters to
“rot in Hell.” Of course, Americans were not the target of Trump’s tirade, but why let facts get in the way?
Trump’s less-than-festive Christmas posts included an attack on Obamacare and a promise to produce a “better, and less expensive, alternative.” His supporters have characterized his renewed calls to dismantle the Affordable Care Act as a losing strategy. Polls suggest that Americans have moved on from the disastrous legislation, and many now support it.
Biden’s Christmas messaging was more conventional, featuring him and First Lady Jill Biden reading “The Night Before Christmas” over a visual of White House holiday decorations. Notably absent in Biden’s Christmas greeting was a call for his opponents to “rot in Hell.”
Trump has had a tough year, but every challenge he faces is met with increased support among Republican and Independent voters. The biggest obstacle that Trump faces in 2024 is, as always, his inability to get out of his own way.
It’s impossible to imagine what Trump’s New Year messaging will be. It’s hard to top “Merry Christmas, rot in Hell,” but undoubtedly, it will be equally inspiring.