Disintegrating but still crafty: He knows that we know

One of the many headlines about Donald Trump over the last 24 hours was his response to a question from Bloomberg Editor-In-Chief John Micklethwait at the Economic Club of Chicago yesterday.  Asked if it was true that he had spoken to Vladimir Putin at least seven times since leaving office, Trump said he wouldn’t comment on that subject, but claimed if he did, “it would be a smart thing.”

He knows that we know.  He even knows that his MAGA base knows.  And he is using that fact over and over as we enter the last three weeks of the presidential campaign. 

Just have a look at these headlines taken from the excellent news aggregator Taegan Goddard’s “Political Wire.”  We’ll begin with one from early this morning: “Trump has spent millions on anti-trans ads.”  He knows that we know that he doesn’t give a shit about trans people, and he knows that this non-issue pisses off the libs, and that is at least in part why he’s running the ads.  The other part is, of course, that he has polled his base and knows the ads work.

“Trump will work the ‘fry cooker’ at McDonald’s.”  He knows that we know what a non-issue his trolling of Kamala Harris is; he knows that Kamala knows it as well.  That’s why he’s doing it.

“Trump brags about his math skills and Economic Plans.”  He knows what a disaster his performance was yesterday in Chicago in front of a bunch of business executives who have made their millions knowing the truth about stuff like tariffs.  He doesn’t care, because he knows that the lies he tells don’t matter, whether they’re about tariffs or inflation or how reducing taxes balloons the deficit, because he knows they know it’s all a Trumpian heads-I-win-tails-you-lose game.

“Prisons offered gender affirming care under Trump.”  He knows that we know it happened, but it doesn’t matter, because his base doesn’t know, and if the subject comes up, he’ll just deny it.

“Amarosa says Trump dictated letters for doctors.”  He knows that we know this.  His so-called medical history has been a joke since he had the wild-haired doctor in New York City take dictation while Trump phoned from outside on the street in his limo.  Remember that one?  He does.

“Trump refuses to back off claims that Migrants eat pets.”  He knows what a crock that story is.  His own running mate admitted as much when he told an interviewer it was okay if he “made up stories” because the mainstream media wouldn’t pay attention to the issue of immigration.  He knows that we know; he knows that his MAGA base probably knows it’s a made-up story.  That’s why he delights in sticking with it.

“Trump lied 19 times in town hall event.”  He knows that we know.  He comes up with the lies and tells them because a lot of the time he doesn’t know what he’s talking about and has to lie – see also economy – and because it pisses off the libs and delights the MAGA base.

“Trump calls himself the ‘father of IVF’.” Even the New York Times called this one “an eyebrow-raising nickname,” a line that must have had to be run by A.G. Sulzberger himself it’s so out of character for the “Newspaper of Record.”  See?  Even the New York Times knows what a gigantic lie that one was.  He knows that we know, which is why he drilled down even further, claiming at his Fox all-female town hall, “We really are the party for IVF. We want fertilization, and it’s all the way, and the Democrats tried to attack us on it, and we’re out there on IVF, even more than them.”

“Trump abruptly cancels another mainstream TV interview.”  He knows that we know he is in decline and is scared shitless of coming apart at the seams during a Q&A over which he has less control than he does at his own rallies.  See also:  his jaw-dropping performance at the rally with Kristi Noem, which he called to a halt and began doing his puppet-on-a-string version of rocking out to everything from the Village People’s “YMCA” to Pavarotti singing “Ave Maria,” of all things. 

In her Substack column yesterday, his niece, Mary L. Trump, said that Trump is “decompensating before our eyes.” He knows it.  He knows that we know it.  The only thing missing from his campaign at this point is a laugh-track.  He knows that his base is in on the joke, and he knows that we know it, and there is nothing we can do but point it out and pray that a few “undecideds” take notice and go to the polls.  He knows that we know, even if the “undecideds” don’t.