The Donald Trump Show (Twitless)

This is interesting. Try three paragraphs from the New York Times:

In the final days of the presidential campaign, Mr. Trump’s candidacy is a jarring split screen: the choreographed show of calm and confidence orchestrated by his staff, and the neediness and vulnerability of a once-boastful candidate now uncertain of victory.

On the surface, there is the semblance of stability that is robbing Hillary Clinton of her most potent weapon: Mr. Trump’s self-sabotaging eruptions, which have repeatedly undermined his candidacy. Underneath that veneer, turbulence still reigns, making it difficult for him to overcome all of the obstacles blocking his path to the White House.

The contrasts pervade his campaign. Aides to Mr. Trump have finally wrested away the Twitter account that he used to colorfully―and often counterproductively―savage his rivals. But offline, Mr. Trump still privately muses about all the ways he will punish his enemies after Election Day, including a threat to fund a “super PAC” with vengeance as its core mission.

To the one, something goes here about the nasty tenor of the campaign. To the other, there really is a question of who starts what, because in the end it is a matter of being damned regardless of doing or not; the opponent is weak for not striking back, or undignified for stooping. And those opponents, and Donald Trump’s seething, vengeful fancies?

President Obama on Sunday mocked Donald Trump, after reports surfaced that the Republican nominee’s campaign has revoked his access to his Twitter account.

“Apparently his campaign has taken away his Twitter,” Obama said during a Florida rally for Hillary Clinton, to laughs.

“In the last two days, they had so little confidence in his self control, they said: ‘We’re just going to take away your Twitter.’ Now, if somebody cant handle a Twitter account, they can’t handle the nuclear code,” Obama continued.

“If somebody starts tweeting at three in the morning because SNL made fun of you, then you can’t handle the nuclear codes.”

Then there is this: Say what you might about dignity, but damn, that game show host really does insist.

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Image notes: Top ― Detail of photo by Saul Loeb/Getty Images. Right ― Detail of photo by Martin H. Simon/Bloomberg News.

Haberman, Maggie, et al. “Inside Donald Trump’s Last Stand: An Anxious Nominee Seeks Assurance”. The New York Times. 6 November 2016.

Savransky, Rebecca. “Obama mocks Trump for report aides blocked him from Twitter”. The Hill. 6 November 2016.