No Kings Protests Are Breaking Trump
Susan J. Demas
There’s a longstanding debate in politics whether it’s better to be feared than loved. In the viper’s nest known as the Trump administration, most of Dear Leader’s lackeys long to be feared — Stephen Miller, Pete Hegseth, J.D. Vance, just to name a few.
But for Trump, being feared has always been secondary to what he’s clearly always wanted from Americans. It’s what he craved from his cold, calculating parents. At his core, Donald Trump wants to be universally loved. It’s why he’s obsessed with awards, polls, Electoral College votes — while pathologically lying about his feats.
When he won reelection in 2024 — only a few short years after the insurrection and his full-on assault on our democracy — he saw it as the ultimate vindication. It was his Sally Field Oscar moment (widely paraphrased as, “You like me. You really like me!”)
In reality, Americans were scarred by COVID, irate with inflation, and sick of the status quo. And the election was still close.
https://www.lincolnsquare.media/p/no-kings-protests-are-breaking-trump