America’s mad king is spiraling. Donald Trump’s approval ratings are mired in the 30s as the Iran war rages on with no end in sight. As prices rise and the US’s reputation tanks, Trump is building self-serving monuments and putting his face on new $1 coins to ensure he leaves a lasting legacy. Don’t worry, Donald, we’ll never forget you! Your name will forever be associated with corruption, crime, and a nationwide outbreak of explosive diarrhea.

When the going gets tough, Trump tends to go into full-on victim mode. This week was no exception. On Thursday, the president gave a televised primetime speech in which he rehashed all his usual grievances. A random jab about trans people? Check. Boasting about how he’s single-handedly made America great again? Check. Demonizing the media? Check. Complaints about how unfair it was he lost to Joe Biden in 2020 coupled with accusations about Chinese interference and misinformation about election integrity? Check. “No country can be great without fair and honest elections,” Trump announced. “If there can be no trust, there can be no greatness. Unfortunately, the system we have falls catastrophically short of that standard.”

The president isn’t completely off-base about trust being in short supply. NBC and ABC – two of the “big three” TV networks in the US – had so little faith that Trump’s speech would contain anything of public importance that they declined to run his speech on their main broadcast channels. CBS, which has become the official Trump appeasement channel, did end up broadcasting the speech. However, even they warned their viewers not to trust Trump. “Honestly, much of what the president has said on [election integrity] ⁠is false,” anchor Tony Dokoupil said in advance of the speech.

Trump’s claims about the electoral system being compromised aren’t just false: they’re a calculated attempt to undermine future elections. Trump is a master of projection. Whenever he accuses others of wrongdoing, you can bet that it’s because he’s up to something himself. As numerous Democrats and voting rights groups are warning, the president appears to be laying the groundwork to interfere with the........

© The Guardian