It`s been three years since Donald Trump descended the gold escalator at Trump Tower to deliver his presidential announcement speech in which he described Mexican immigrants as racist. Trump`s speeches during the presidential campaign were must-watch TV, it was intoxicating watching an Elmer Gantry working a partisan crowd.

Trump`s stump speeches were aired on MSNBC, CNN and Fox News, the blowhard shyster was ratings gold, and the cable news outlets covered him as if he were Jesus Christ on his 2nd Coming Tour.

Left-leaning CNN and MSNBC no longer cover Trump`s addresses from beginning to end, they only play snippets that expose him as a moron. Fox News, which behaves as a propaganda arm for the White House, still airs his orations in full.

Ostensibly Trump makes speeches in support of a GOP politician who is running for re-election in November, but he barley mentions the candidate, and he spends almost all of the time bragging about his so-called accomplishments.

But why is Trump still delivering campaign-style speeches almost two years into his term? What is the point of a Trump rally in 2018? His shtick is well-worn and tired: he walks out to the stage to Lee Greenwood and departs inexplicably to “You Can`t Always Get What You Want.” In between there are lies, insults and incomprehensible blather punctuated by chants of “Lock her up!” and “Build the wall!”

It`s a mystery what audiences get out of Trump`s tired routine, but it`s manifest what he gets out of it. Trump is a narcissist and megalomaniac who needs adulation as much as he needs oxygen. When Trump delivers a speech he knows that he will be treated like a rock star, and that his idiotic comments will be covered extensively by the cable news networks.

The Trump rally is a mainstay of his administration, unfortunately we will be subjected to them right through the final month of his first term.

Follow Robert Paul Reyes on Twitter: http://twitter.com/robertpaulreyes