Donald Trump is about to get back to the thing he loves the most, but are the MAGA rallies still a potent political weapon or will these off-the-cuff appearances by the President prove to be a growing liability?
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Trump rallies, or “MAGA” rallies, are perhaps some of the most visceral political moments in modern political history. Placed before an adoring crowd, Donald Trump delights in delivering often unscripted stream-of-consciousness speeches to the maniacal shouts of his most avid supporters. There’s even quite often some good ol’ “two minutes hate” moments directed at the media, the Democrats, or whoever Trump is feeling particularly pissed off at from moment to moment.
The President has loved these moments so much that it took a national crisis, COVID-19, to force a pause in his campaign circuit. But it sounds like the Trump rallies are back on. All the pageantry, demagoguery, and kayfabe this country can handle will be back on display as soon as next week.
No doubt, the President and his surrogates are excited to get back to the events they probably feel are a huge boon to his re-election chances. And, with Gallup putting the President’s job approval at an abysmal 39%, they no doubt feel more rallies couldn’t come at a better time.
But will Trump rallies make any measurable difference this year? There’s no doubt the energy of these rallies and Trump’s over-the-top off-the-cuff remarks helped keep him in the headlines in 2016. But in 2020, do these rallies provide anything but red meat for already dedicated followers?
For sure, there’s an argument to be made for energizing the base and driving turn out. (For how much the age of Trump is supposedly the era of shattered political norms, politics has still operated in typical, expected ways time and time again). But the real question is whether the boosted energy provided by a Trump rally can overcome the dangers presented by President Trump’s undisciplined mouth.
The polls are demonstrating a weariness with Trump’s bluster, especially as his touted “best economy ever” has floundered into recession due to COVID-19 and as the nation has been gripped by socio-political tensions and the kind of “carnage” he promised would be a thing of the past under his leadership.
Donald Trump rose to power by channeling serious tensions and anxieties of enough of the electorate to squeak past possibly the most unpopular political figure in the last twenty years. Trump voters reported liking his willingness to fight and that he “told it how it is.”
But, it seems over the last several years, the collective consciousness of America has slowly drifted away from Donald Trump’s worldview. Now, instead of appearing as a fighter, the President is constantly on the defense and lashing out at his detractors like a wounded animal. Instead of “telling it how it is,” he offers daily obfuscation and rambles on nonsensically, spewing disinformation, proposing absurd ideas, and ruminating on off-the-wall conspiracy theories.
Next week, Donald Trump may be opening up a rally to a changed world and a country that is no longer in his pocket. Short of mustering a sense of message discipline that he has, up till now, never shown an ounce of, the President may find his rallies a liability instead of the potent weapon he thinks they are.
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