Barring some unforeseen circumstances, it is all but certain that former President Donald Trump is going to be the Republican nominee for the 2024 presidential election. However, if he should lose the election this time around, he will have no one to blame but himself. This is because Trump continues to make stupid mistakes that alienate him from many voters. The latest example of this is his recent comments about Nikki Haley’s husband.
During a campaign rally in South Carolina, Trump told the crowd about a previous meeting at Mar-a-Lago involving Trump, Haley, and Haley’s husband.
“Then she comes over to see me at Mar-a-Lago,” Trump said. “‘Sir, I will never run against you.’ She brought her husband. Where’s your husband? Oh, he’s away. He’s away. What happened to her husband? What happened to her husband? Where is he? He’s gone! He knew. He knew.”
This was stupid of Trump, incredibly stupid. First, it’s just ignorant to criticize the husband of your political opponent for being away on military service. This stupidity is compounded by the fact that Trump never served in the military when he was of age and received a questionable medical exemption for “bone spurs in his heels” to avoid serving in 1968.
But this is one of Trump’s major problems: He just can’t leave well enough alone. Sure, his trash-talking appeals to the strongest members of his base (though it should legitimately be questioned as to why). However, it does nothing to expand his appeal and negatively reflects on him as a person, especially since he did not serve in the military.
So, to make comments such as these regarding Michael Haley being deployed is shameful, classless, and, quite frankly, trashy. And, when it comes to getting votes, Trump’s words and actions are reasons why he isn’t dominating President Joe Biden in every poll and fails to enjoy the national, widespread support that he arguably should have, given how atrocious Biden has been as president.
Trump should not even be worried about Haley anymore. If his advisers were worth anything, they would hammer this point home with him every day, every hour, every minute, and every second. He defeated her; that race is effectively over. Any comments now are just an unhinged reaction that isn’t needed in any way.
It’s frequently two steps forward, 1 1/2 (if not two) steps back with Trump. He will make excellent points, support and promote political topics that require the much-needed attention Trump gives them, and then he will turn around and do something stupid such as these comments about Haley’s husband. There are not enough words in the English language to describe how incredibly frustrating this is. He is still leaps and bounds better than Biden, but voting for Trump is sadly deteriorating between the lesser of two evils instead of an optimistic choice and vision for the country’s future.