NUMBER CRUNCHING

Trump Refuses to Face His Disaster Polls

Trumpworld is burning… and the president is having a Nero moment.

Opinion

Flailing politicians sometimes try to rationalize their way around the polls, believing they have some finer gut understanding. Trump is way beyond that. He is against the popular will. The meaning of being president for Trump is simply that he can get his own way. He doesn’t believe the polls. This has some foundation, since his election in 2016 happened against all polling predictions. But it isn’t just that: brought a negative poll, Trump simply orders aides to find better ones. For him, the political act is not how to adjust for or mollify voter sentiment, but, like any good stage actor, to direct all attention back to him. If the plotline returns to him, the less satisfying aspects of the story become irrelevant. He’s the star. The challenge is to turn heads, not necessarily opinions. Still, Trump, and an ever-rising revulsion toward him, is the primary issue in the midterm elections, and why Republican poll numbers continue to dramatically fall. His only answer to this is more Trump, bigger Trump, greater Trump, which, under the circumstances, quite seems like more self-destructive Trump. And it will spell disaster.

Polls may rise and fall, but the show goes on at the White House. Click through to Michael Wolff’s HOWL on Substack for more analysis and inside information.