Trump’s Delusional Battle Against Reality and the Media

By Josiah Carrasco -Opinion

August 13, 2024

Donald Trump’s truth-twisting antics are as predictable as they are exhausting. Just when you think he’s reached the peak of absurdity, he finds a way to scale new heights of delusion. His latest screed on Truth Social is a masterclass in self-pity and paranoia, as he attacks The New York Times and Siena College for allegedly rigging a poll against him. If Trump’s whiny, self-aggrandizing tirades weren’t so dangerous, they’d almost be funny—almost.

Let’s dissect this mess of a statement. First of all, Donald, let's get one thing straight: polls are not some grand conspiracy concocted by the "Fake News York Times" to make you look bad. Polling is a reflection of reality, and if reality isn’t flattering you, that’s a you problem, not a them problem. But, of course, in Trumpworld, nothing is ever his fault. Everything is a plot against him, orchestrated by an ever-growing list of enemies—from the media to Democrats to anyone who dares to question his self-declared greatness.

Trump’s latest tantrum is nothing more than a desperate attempt to delegitimize any source of information that doesn’t paint him as the unstoppable force he wants to believe he is. But let’s be honest here: the man is terrified. Terrified that the country is moving on from his brand of chaos and lies. Terrified that his stranglehold on the GOP is slipping. Terrified that maybe, just maybe, the American people are waking up to his con.

And what’s his strategy to counter this? The same tired playbook he’s been using since 2016—attack, deflect, and deny. His claim that the poll "way over sampled" Democrats is a laughable attempt to shift the blame for his unpopularity. Newsflash, Donnie: the country’s changing, and you’re not the big deal you once were. People are tired of the chaos, tired of the drama, and tired of the endless parade of lies. But instead of doing some self-reflection (as if that’s even possible for him), he doubles down, accusing his opponents of being the real danger. The irony is rich.

Let’s take a moment to appreciate the sheer ridiculousness of Trump’s assertion that a "San Francisco Liberal" is going to "destroy America." The man who incited an insurrection, cozied up to dictators, and tried to undermine the very foundation of our democracy has the nerve to claim that someone else is going to destroy the country? Please. The only thing Trump has ever built is a house of cards, and it’s one gust of truth away from collapsing.

This latest "Truth" is nothing more than another piece of the carefully constructed alternate reality that Trump has been peddling to his base for years. He’s like a bad magician, distracting the audience with one hand while the other is busy hiding the failures he doesn’t want anyone to see. But here’s the thing about magic tricks—they only work if the audience is willing to be fooled. And more and more Americans are waking up from the Trump spell, realizing that they’ve been duped.

But why does Trump keep pushing these lies? Because fear is the fuel that powers his entire operation. He knows that if he can keep his base scared—of liberals, of the media, of the supposed "deep state"—they’ll keep supporting him, facts be damned. It’s a tactic as old as politics itself, but Trump has taken it to new, dizzying extremes. By painting himself as the ultimate victim, he galvanizes his supporters into believing that they, too, are under attack.

Yet, beneath all the bluster, there’s a palpable sense of desperation. Trump’s days as the dominant force in American politics may be numbered, and he knows it. The more he lashes out, the more it becomes clear that his grip on power is slipping. But instead of going quietly into the night, he’s determined to burn everything down on his way out, and he doesn’t care who gets hurt in the process.

We should be alarmed, not amused, by these antics. Trump’s war on truth is a war on democracy itself. When he claims that the system is rigged, that the media is out to get him, that polls are fake, he’s not just whining—he’s laying the groundwork for undermining the next election. We saw this playbook in 2020, and we saw where it led: a violent insurrection at the Capitol, spurred on by the very lies Trump continues to spread.

The bottom line is this: Donald Trump’s "Truths" are nothing more than lies wrapped in self-pity and paranoia. They’re a desperate attempt to cling to relevance in a world that’s moving on without him. And while it might be tempting to laugh off his latest tantrum, we can’t afford to ignore the damage he’s doing. Every time he undermines trust in the media, in polling, in our democratic institutions, he’s sowing the seeds of chaos and division.

So let’s call this what it is: a sad, pathetic attempt by a fading figure to keep his grip on a base that’s shrinking by the day. Trump’s "Truths" are a farce, and it’s high time we stopped indulging his delusions. The American people deserve better than a leader who refuses to face reality, and it’s up to all of us to ensure that Trump’s toxic brand of politics is relegated to the dustbin of history—where it belongs.