Via/AP
A recent campaign ad from President Joe Biden has stirred significant controversy by highlighting claims that former President Donald Trump referred to fallen American soldiers as “suckers” and “losers.” This ad has evidently struck a nerve with Trump, prompting him to demand its removal.
In a series of interviews with The Daily Beast, both current and former insiders from Trump’s camp revealed that the ad effectively targets some of Trump’s deep-seated insecurities. One former Trump official commented on Trump’s apparent lack of understanding of military service, referencing his controversial exemption from the Vietnam draft due to a diagnosis of “bone spurs.”
“He just has no concept of service, that’s the main thing here,” the former official remarked. “So it’s really difficult for him to imagine why people would even [serve in combat]. It’s just a whole foreign thing to him.”
A Republican strategist also weighed in, noting that even the mere mention of the word “loser” in relation to Trump is enough to provoke a strong reaction. The strategist emphasized that the most effective way to unsettle Trump is to remind him of his 2020 election defeat, his legal losses, and his convictions.
“The biggest insult to him to get under his skin is that he lost in 2020, he lost his court case and he’s convicted now,” said the strategist. “You can call him fat, call him an insurrectionist, call him a racist [but] that’s just not gonna stick.”
This strategist went on to explain that portraying Trump as a loser is a potent strategy for Democrats aiming to psychologically unbalance him.
“I think his deepest fear, or the deepest psychology with Donald Trump is that he [didn’t win] the 2020 election [when] he’s won everything in life,” they elaborated. “That’s the pressure. He’s married hot women, he built famous buildings, and he had a highly rated, successful TV show. And he became president, right?”
On the campaign trail, President Joe Biden has repeatedly taunted Trump over his 2020 loss, an event that Trump vehemently contested, culminating in the January 6 Capitol riot. Biden’s strategy appears to involve continuously reminding Trump and the public of this defeat, a tactic that seems to be provoking significant reactions from Trump and his supporters.
The ad and its aftermath highlight the ongoing tensions and psychological battles that characterize the current political climate, with both sides leveraging past events to gain an upper hand in the run-up to the next election.
