Donald Trump would have his supporters believe that he could win California, along with the 49 other states, if election officials only counted votes the way he wanted (in 2020 as now, that means tossing out ballots for his opponent). At the end of his third run for the White House, however, the former president was busy not expanding the electoral map but trying to hold on in a place once thought safely red.

“Look, if I don’t win this thing after all this talk, I’m in trouble — will you please go and vote,” the Republican growled to an audience Sunday in Greensboro, North Carolina, where polls show him in a statistical dead-heat with the Democratic nominee. “I mean, I came here, whatever the hell time it is, who the hell knows. I’ve given you the full board. You wouldn’t let me leave at half an hour. I could have run up here, done it, start screaming, ‘Make America Great Again’ for five or six times and then leave to the cheers of the crowd. I would have been home sleeping by now.”

By his next stop in the Tar Heel state, the 78-year-old appeared even more exhausted, turning in what local outlet NC Newsline described as a “disjointed” appeal for votes in the small city of Kinston. There, Trump forgot who was on the ballot, praising a hedge fund manager running for the U.S. Senate in Pennsylvania before appearing to realize his mistake.

“You have one of the best of all right........

© Salon