Trump's insanity is finally breaking through in the media

Joe Biden dropping out of the race and passing the torch to Kamala Harris did two good things for Democrats: It energized key constituencies of voters, particularly black and young women, and also forced the media to abandon its despicable obsession with Biden's alleged to abandon mental and physical infirmities and focus on the only mentally disturbed person in the race, Donald Trump. It took nearly three months to achieve this, but last week Trump left them no choice.

It's possible that the least important thing got the most attention, as is often the case: Trump talking about the size of the late golf star Arnold Palmer's… let's say “equipment.” “He showered with the other professionals. They came out of there and said, 'Oh my God, this is incredible,'” he said. Palmer, the pride of Latrobe, Pennsylvania, where Trump held his rally, was “a man,” he said.

What received less attention at the same rally were his profane insults toward Harris. “You have to tell Kamala Harris. …We can't stand you. You're a shitty vice president.” He added, “Kamala, you're fired, get the fuck out of here, you're fired.” The crowd roared.

But that was the end of a week of bizarre behavior: On Monday, at a supposed town hall, after an audience member suffered a medical incident, Trump asked his music teachers (whose decisions are always bizarre) to play songs — instead of answering questions. For 39 minutes, Trump danced and swayed to a medley that included “Ave Maria,” James Brown's “It's a Man's World,” Leonard Cohen's “Hallelujah” and “Memory” from the musical Cats. Saturday Night Live said if you like these songs you could buy them in a compilation called This I Call Dementia, Volume 1. For the children this means a parody of a series of cheesy CDs from the late 1990s That's what I call musicwith different years and genres.

Of course, dementia is not funny. That is SNLThat's a joke, not mine. But the weekend brought the most serious coverage of Trump's apparent mental decline that we've seen from major media outlets all year. On Friday, Politico reported that aides described Trump as “exhausted” and explained why he declined or withdrew interviews (the campaign denied this). It was also widely reported that he insulted a crowd when he urged them to go out and vote: “Jill, get your fat man off the couch,” he said. “Get the fat pig off the couch. Tell him to vote for Trump, he will save our country. Get the hell away from us – pick him up, Jill, and slap him around. Pick him up. Pick him up, Jill. We want him to get off the couch and vote.” (Observers are divided on whether he was referring to the Bidens when he used the name “Jill.” I don't think so. Joe Biden is neither a “fat pig.” he will probably vote for Trump.)

Mainstream news organizations suddenly became more outspoken about Trump's decline — and his confusion. “Trump’s age is finally catching up with him” The Washington Post wrote on Saturday. “Trump opens Pennsylvania rally by talking about Arnold Palmer’s genitals,” AP headlined in its coverage of the Latrobe debacle. “Donald Trump's vulgar rally rant raises questions about his mental state,” he said Financial Times wrote.

As always, The New York Times immediately “sanitized” the story. On the current political news site, a brief report said Trump told “golf stories” about Palmer without mentioning his lewd remark. But shockingly, after widespread outcry on social media, reporter Michael Gold asked a critic to contact him with his questions (email protected)because “I submitted something with what you mentioned included as omitted, but I was not given the authority to publish what I say.”

Maybe the pressure worked. Later that day, the Just published a lengthy article by Gold headlined “At rally in Pennsylvania, Trump reaches new level of vulgarity,” which included the Palmer story verbatim and warned that Trump's crude speech could anger “swing voters.”

To be fair, The New York Times reported Trump's previous evidence of cognitive decline in an Oct. 7 article headlined “Trump's Increasingly Angry and Rambling Speeches Reignite the Question of Age.” But the newspaper continues to use euphemisms about Trump's sick behavior instead of calling it what it is, while downplaying his extreme politics. “Harris was committed to family policy. Now Trump Likes Her Too,” read one Saturday headline.

But overall, major media outlets seem more willing to tell the truth about Trump. All the Sunday programs covered his Palmer remarks and the other evidence not only of vulgarity but also of possible mental deterioration. Reporters quickly pounced on the fact that Trump's alleged stop at McDonald's took place at a location closed to patrons and where supporters pretended to drive by and pick up orders from Trump; In fact, they were given packaged food. Harris has also capitalized on the week of insanity by using snippets of Trump's bizarre remarks (not the Palmer story; her rallies include children) in her public appearances. Trump is giving Harris a real chance to highlight his unfitness for office, and she is taking it.

The biggest danger here isn't just Trump's incredible chances of winning another term; Polls show the couple essentially tied. If Trump is elected, he could quickly cede the presidency to vice presidential candidate JD Vance – either because he knows his condition hampers him or because he is forced to. That could be more disastrous than a second Trump term. Vance is the friendly face of fascism, enhanced by tech millionaires and democracy opponents Peter Thiel and Elon Musk. Trump doesn't understand Heritage Foundation's Project 2025; Vance would know how to make it a reality. Just as Republicans argued that a vote for the 81-year-old Biden was a vote for Harris — which seemed to be fine with voters, since Harris is running stronger than Biden in almost every demographic — Democrats should emphasize that a vote for Trump is a vote for Vance. Vance alienates many voters, especially young women.

In any case, it was a terrible week for Trump. Harris deftly highlights his many stumbling blocks, but so do reporters. Both developments bode well for democracy.