“President Donald Trump faced life outside his own political bubble on Tuesday, where his self-congratulation, buck passing and audacious falsehoods conspicuously failed to meet the moment when he was confronted by undecided voters.
Trump appeared at an ABC News town hall in Philadelphia, and peppered a socially distanced audience with the rhetoric and talking points that delight his loyal base. But if his goal was to satisfy relatively small groups of voters who polls show haven’t yet made up their mind, the President appeared to fall short and rarely addressed the substance of questions about his handling of the coronavirus pandemic, race relations and health care.”
CNN
When Donald Trump presides over a Cabinet meeting, he usually allows every subordinate present to make a statement, thereby giving them an opportunity to lavish him with praise. The sycophants try to outdo each other in their displays of obsequiousness, and it’s impossible to witness the spectacle without being embarrassed for them.
Trump frequently grants interviews with TV anchors and reporters, but most of them are with Trump-friendly Fox News. These toadies lob softballs that even Stevie Wonder could hit out of the park, and they rarely follow-up when Trump utters an outrageous lie or makes a ridiculous statement.
Trump loves to hold rallies with his loyal base where every insult he hurls, every lie he tells, and every conspiracy theory he repeats is met with hearty applause.
To sum it up, Trump loves to meet with subordinates, reporters and supporters who accept his every ignorant and ridiculous remark as the Gospel.
But he doesn’t have much experience dealing with private citizens who aren’t predisposed to treat him as the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. That’s why the ABC News town hall was such a disaster, the folks who attended the event treated him with respect but without the adulation that’s promiscuously showered on him at his MAGA rallies.
When a reporter from CNN or MSNBC asks the president a tough question, he doesn’t hesitate to rudely blow them off. But Trump can’t afford to treat voters with such contempt, and he was off his game the entire night.
The ABC News town hall doesn’t bode well for Trump’s likelihood of winning the presidential debates. The moderators aren’t going to treat him with deference, and the audience won’t respond like Beliebers at a Justin Bieber concert. I predict Trump will lose the debates and the election.