In a meandering speech to commemorate the Navy’s 250th birthday on Sunday at the Norfolk Naval base, Donald J. Trump, 79, of course, falsely brought up that “they rigged the election on me.” From there, his speech took an even more extreme turn as he claimed to be the president in 2016, when Barack Obama was still in office.
In contrast, President Biden’s speeches to the Navy emphasized the Navy’s role in defending American democracy, promoting global stability, and supporting alliances, while also honoring the service members and their families. With Trump, it’s about an election that was “rigged,” even though it was a free and fair election.
At one point, he called Democrats a “gnat,” during his unprecedented speech, which was out of step with the U.S. military’s tradition of nonpartisanship. And it comes at a time when Trump has unleashed the military on solely Democratic cities in a display of retribution.
“So we’re celebrating 250,” he said. “I almost thought I wouldn’t get to do that because I was president in 2016, and then they rigged the election on me. And then we caught him, didn’t we? We caught him.”
“But you know we had to run it again,” he added. “I ran it again, and I got 250, and I got the World Cup, and I got the Olympics. Can you believe all of it?”
There have been signs of Trump’s failing mental health for years, but he appears to be getting worse. Republicans have normalized Trump saying delusional shit without ever questioning him. They know he’s way off his rocker, but they got those tax cuts, and as a bonus for them, President Stephen Miller is out for Democratic blood.
