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The audience, largely made up of Iowa GOP primary voters, applauded him on his hit parade. But some looked outright bored themselves and seemed to be begging Trump to give them something, anything to latch onto going forward. The former president isn’t offering much in that arena, yet.
When one participant finally got his chance at a question, one of only two that was asked, Trump was asked about what he would do to tackle inflation moving forward. Trump then talked about how much he rebuilt the military during his previous presidency.
Trump is apparently looking to run on ‘Memberberrying’. Selling nostalgia may work for some Republican voters, but to me he simply looked out of touch to where the country currently is. A lot of people will check out if more of the same is all that’s on offer.
Voters at large don’t want another airing of the personal grievances of someone who felt targeted and wronged throughout his presidency (he was); they want to move forward. A sense of entitlement and victimhood played a large role in Hillary Clinton’s rejection in 2016.
If Trump hopes to succeed in this presidential bid, he will have to be more than someone who thinks it’s his turn again to sit around and tell more stories. If that’s what he wants, he should retire to write his memoirs – but you can tell that he still loves the audience, and having an audience. Bad news for Republicans hoping for a clearly articulated vision of the future.
A version of this article was first published on The Spectator World.
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