The Queeg Factor

Do voters know how weird Trump has become?

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Former President Donald Trump arrives for a campaign event at the Orpheum Theater on October 29, 2023, in Sioux City, Iowa. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)

The Dispatch staff is a kind-hearted bunch. We aren’t quite the optimists about human nature that we were eight years ago, it’s safe to say, but I think most of us still believe people are good at heart.

Most, not all. Regular readers might have a guess as to who one of the exceptions is.

On Thursday, in the company Slack channel, three of our more good-natured contributors marveled at this news from an Associated Press reporter covering the Republican frontrunner’s latest rally:

He’s almost 46 points ahead of his nearest challenger in national polling. Barring divine intervention, he’ll be his party’s nominee for president. Yet here he is, with Iowa set to caucus in less than three months, babbling sympathetically about the goons who smashed up the Capitol to facilitate his coup attempt.

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  1. Deleted Comment

    This comment has been deleted

  2. ModeratelyLibertarian

    I've long been saying that Trump seems like a strange hybrid of Captain Queeg and the Cowardly Lion. If you put a tail on his end, some ball bearings in his hand and started a conversation about strawberry theft, he'd be right at home.

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  3. Andrew Zelis

    What Mr. Allahpundit and other Dispatch readers may not realize is that Joe and the Dem's offer something so much more grotesque in every possible iteration than what Trump is offering. It's not even close. I personally cannot stand Trump, but my fear of Biden and the left is too strong for me to pull the lever for Biden. I will be voting Trump. Not that it matters, I live in Chicago.

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  4. FreddySez

    "Conceivably, the House Republican investigation into Hunter Biden will uncover a smoking gun proving his financial corruption..."

    Like a $40,000 check whose amount and source align exactly with known language about "10 percent for the big guy"?

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  5. Bloodredinabluestate

    We definitely have been desensitized over the past eight years to the shocking things Trump says, but his derogatory statements about soldiers made me gasp. I think playing them over and over during prime campaign season would open some eyes. If there's anything MAGA types love as much as Trump, it's the military.

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  6. John Boland

    RFK Jr might be weird, but at least he never aided and abetted a violent insurrection. So he has that going for him. I would, however, like to see him go on the record whether, if elected President, he would pardon Trump and/or any of the Jan 6 thugs. One wonders how that would affect his poll numbers one way or the other.

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  7. Paul in NC

    I insincerely hope that the vast majority of people supporting Trump don't actually realize that he has changed from a crude showman to a dangerous mental case. The Trump Cult Boosters (Fox News, Newsmax, OAN, The Joe Rogan Show, etc.) intentionally ignore Trump's power-crazed despotic quotes and the Trump cult proudly avoids anything that challenges the cult orthodoxy, so why in the world would they know?

    So how many of these people would actually be turned-off by Trump once they knew? That's the real question. Like Allah-Nick, I have become much more pessimistic about the right's overall intelligence and gullibility, so I suspect they will split almost evenly. The only thing that could make a difference is a criminal conviction, but I would not bet money on it.

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  8. Jon.Shelby

    I suppose the positive slack thread type might remind everyone that in the general election it doesn't matter how 100% of the GOP votes, they make up less than a quarter of the electorate. Even in swing states they don't make up more than about a third.

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  9. Joe

    Most people aren't "good at heart". No one is a fundamentally good person. That's a massive blind spot you guys have!

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  10. Goatprairie

    Like I've said that if Trump had murdered Mother Theresa on fifth avenue in broad daylight, the cult would say that the b*tch deserved it.
    There's simply nothing Trump can do, and I mean nothing, that will cause the cult to quit their idol.

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    1. Avatar photo
      Ronnie B

      Aren’t you the same guy that responded to me this morning in a condescending manner for my having had the nerve to call the Trump voters stupid?

      You might want to consider picking a position and sticking with it.

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      1. Goatprairie

        Plenty of stupid people on both sides of the political divide, pal. And I certainly don't mean to be condescending. Or descending. Or something.

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