Trump is many things, but first and foremost, he's a grifter. He's been one his entire life, long before he entered politics.
After he squandered his inheritance, his grifts began to fall flat and he failed - over and over - and was bankrupt; he got rescued by The Apprentice and the fictional success and persona that Mark Burnett created.
As he entered politics, he realized - grifter that he is - that he could capitalize on the fictional character from The Apprentice that had built him his following, by further amassing a fearful angry following of people who felt disenfranchised. He learned to turn their deep-seated fears into grievances and told them who to blame for it. He learned he could pose as one of them, even though he's the farthest thing from them.
He became a carnival-style conman, peddling rudimentary and unmistakable frauds to a larger and larger audience of followers - who - quite frankly - disgust him. For years he's peddled his frauds to them, feeding them heaping helpings of bullshit, and for their part, the dopamine rush overpowered reasoned thought; some looked askance at the bullshit he was feeding them, but a good number of them asked for bigger spoons.
But a conman has to remain true to his con, and Trump can no longer muster that as well; he's unable to be true to anything beyond himself, and he now tells people openly that he doesn't care about them.
And a conman has to protect his myth, and Trump's secrets, lies, and frequent humiliations are showing.
And a conman also has to be able to convey a thought coherently, and he is ill and medicated, and puffy and lumpy and he doesn't come off well.
And finally, a conman has to give his marks something to encourage their continued support, and Trump is losing even this ability because he hates everyone, malice seethes inside him, and he hates most of all that he's approaching his final chapter, and he's too preoccupied with power to give a damn for his people - or any people.
This is a malignant narcissist in decline. It behooves us to take this lesson from history: Malignant narcissists ALWAYS get worse. They NEVER want to go down alone.
This grifter, unable to do anything else competently, and too ill to learn anything new, is returning to his core business - grift. The grift is brazen, and it's at a scale never before seen.
It's the corruption - the grift - that will take him down.
@Super70sSports That's making the assumption they are properly seasoned and cooked hushpuppies. Hushpuppies are either highlight of the meal or not fit to be feed to the rats.
@Coach_Rex Regardless of talent level, a coach has to cultivate the culture and standard needed to win consistently. When the players know the is willing to sell his soul and take every shortcut imaginable, they have no belief in him. They know he will quit on them eventually.
@thisisanfield The failure to consistently close out players in the defensive third is the biggest and most glaring problem. It has been shockingly bad all season.
@SenThomTillis Dammit, you voted to confirm that idiot. You bear significant responsibility. He was a known incompetent before the confirmation hearings.