Opinion | The author's opinion does not necessarily reflect Sarah Palin's view.
NBC News anchor Chuck Todd noted that former President Donald Trump’s demeanor reflects his confident “swagger” reminiscent of his successful 2016 campaign during recent campaign stops in Michigan.
Todd highlighted Trump’s relaxed attitude and humor, contrasting it with a period dominated by anger and grievance.
“I don’t mean to simplify this, but, you know, Donald Trump’s rhetoric, even, and even his sort of swagger looks more like 2016 and the campaign you covered so closely, Katy, than he looks in 2020,” Todd said.
“And in fact, I was just discussing this with somebody we all know … he even noted, we were talking about this idea that when Trump’s losing, the worst version of Trump shows up and when Trump’s winning or he thinks he’s ahead, he’s actually a different person, a different candidate.”
“Donald Trump in Detroit, and those events he did, he was oddly loose,” Todd added. “He was trying to be funny. And all of this where from about 2017 to 2022 and even 2023 through the primaries, it’s been nothing but angry grievance Trump, angry, angry, angry. It’s interesting if he somehow drops the grievance, he could end up looking more like that 2016 candidate where he’s the outside disrupter.”
While Todd suggested that Trump’s return to his earlier disruptive outsider persona could appeal to swing voters, Katy Tur expressed concerns about Trump’s sustained grievances and ongoing legal battles affecting his campaign message.
The media’s struggle to grasp the political impact of Trump’s defiance against his prosecutors further underscores the divide between public sentiment and media interpretation, with some perceiving Trump as championing their grievances and gaining increased support despite legal challenges.
“He’s going to be sentenced in a few weeks here in Manhattan,” Tur said. “The presidential immunity decisions coming out with the Supreme Court. There are reasons to continue on the grievance trail. And this whole campaign, it seems to be less for him about policy and more about what they’re doing to me is what they want to do to you. My grievances are your grievances.”
The liberal media’s inability to understand why Trump’s fury against his prosecutors is good politics is also blinding commentators from understanding how average voters feel, some conservatives say. Tara Setmayer, a recent guest on ’s program, said “aggrieved” Americans feel Trump is fighting for them.
“They’re aggrieved. Donald Trump has given voice and credibility and a platform to their grievances, so they can take it out on everybody else and say see, ‘I’m not alone here. I have someone who’s championing our grievances too,’ and that’s Donald Trump. Why they believe that he gives two shits about them, volumes will be written about the political psychology around this,” Don Lemon guest Tara Setmayer said.
“They have changed their political persuasion to independent, and they are looking forward to voting for Trump,” Black voter Lisa Babbage said, “because now they find something in common with a political candidate at that level.”
