While President Joe Biden and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) were receiving fairly positive headlines for their press conference on Hurricane Ian, the 45th president was bragging about his popularity.
Speaking at the Hispanic Leadership Conference on Wednesday, former President Donald Trump bragged he was told he would beat a hypothetical presidential ticket featuring a resurrected George Washington and Abraham Lincoln.
“A very famous pollster, very well known, John McLaughlin, came to my office just prior to the plague coming in,” the former president said.
Trump added, “He said, ‘Sir, if George Washington and Abraham Lincoln came alive from the dead and they formed a president, vice president team, you would beat them by 40%.”
Watch the video below:
Trump says pollster told him: “If George Washington and Abraham Lincoln came alive from the dead and formed a President and VP team, you would beat them by 40%.” pic.twitter.com/dlsQvCavdP
— Ron Filipkowski (@RonFilipkowski) October 5, 2022
This is a funny part of his remarks on Wednesday. But other clips were not quite as humorous.
At various points during his remarks, Trump complained about the raid at his Mar-a-Lago estate related to allegations he took classified documents from the White House.
He claimed he has been “harassed” and “persecuted” more than any other president in U.S. history, before proceeding to whine about other presidents not getting raided by the FBI.
Additionally, Trump claimed the National Archives is a “radical left run agency… seriously radical left” and “so woke and broken.”
Trump's audience at the AFPI Hispanic Leadership Conference in Miami is silent as he whines about purportedly being the more persecuted president in history pic.twitter.com/y8BGKMGSjU
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) October 5, 2022
He also suggested the late-President George H.W. Bush and former President George W. Bush should be investigated as well. Then he asked why the FBI was raiding Mar-a-Lago but allegedly leaving drug cartels alone.
Perhaps it says something about Trump’s standing that his remarks yesterday did not receive too much attention. However, it is another anecdote that should lead conservatives to ask if this is the man they really want to be their nominee in 2024 — if he runs again.
Polls still show Trump blowing the competition away. But why would conservatives want to put up with this?
By contrast, we had the imagery of Biden and DeSantis talking about Hurricane Ian. They appeared cordial and seemed to be putting Floridians before partisan politics. Neither man was awkwardly fawning over the other. But Wednesday’s press conference with the two leaders was frankly a refreshing moment where two politicians with vastly different ideologies came together to focus on helping Americans.
There’s nothing wrong with going off on a tangent every now and then. Perhaps conservatives can deal with the constant drumbeat of leaks and other news from all the Trump investigations for another four years. And maybe they can also deal with not just the mean tweets Truths, but also the just plain ugly ones, and his chaotic governing style.
But why? Seriously, why?
It just gets tiring hearing someone rant about being persecuted and complaining his enemies aren’t, and worrying about tweets and chaos. That is true especially when there is an alternative who can scratch conservatives’ culture war itch, but also roll up his sleeves and put those issues on the back burner when the time comes.