Ex-President Donald J Trump has had to sit through his hush-money trial for the last three and a half weeks, and he’s done better than I expected. Although initially hit with nine contempt charges by Judge Juan Merchan (who has not ruled on the consequences), Trump has moderated his behavior more than I thought he would be able to. At least once, however, Trump could not help grumbling uncontrollably about Stormy Daniel’s testimony for which Judge Merchan chided Trump’s attorney (?) but did not hold Trump in contempt. It again raises the question of Trump’s mental competence.
Trump surprised me by agreeing to debate President Biden, once on June 27th and again on September 10th. I suspect both campaigns felt they could count on the other imploding in a debate: Biden – for all his competence as president – does not fare well on the debate stage, and Trump will be … well Trump.
For at least part of those debates, Trump will be unscripted and off the teleprompters, precisely the situation he should not be able to handle if he is as demented as I think he is (see here and here). So there are three possibilities:
1. I’m wrong about Trump’s dementia, and he will be his usual narcissistically uncontrolled self.
2. He will find some excuse to cancel the debates.
3. He will ascend the debate stage, and his level of dementia will be obvious to anyone open to taking it in.
I’m guessing he’ll find an excuse to cancel the debates, but I’ll be delighted if he ascends the stage. The more exposure the American people have to an unscripted Trump, the greater the possibility we will see the unprecedented danger to our democracy he embodies.
