For a terrifying moment Monday night, it looked like we may have lost Donald Trump. Not that the reality star turned right-wing demagogue had a near-death experience – worse, he had a near-humble one.
The last time Trump felt rejected by Iowa voters, he went on a 95-minute rant about how Ben Carson was basically a child molester. So it came as a bit of shock when the Donald delivered a short, gracious concession speech to Ted Cruz Monday night.
Happily, the bitter, pathological narcissist we know and love (to snark about) reemerged on Twitter Tuesday morning. Trump began his tweet storm with deceptive equanimity, taking the glass-half-full perspective on his runner-up status.
In his next tweet, the mogul introduced the faintest hint of passive aggression, suggesting that he would have done even better if someone hadn’t told him not to try too hard in the Hawkeye State.
Then we found out that this certain someone wasn’t content to merely mislead the Donald about his chances — they were now misrepresenting the significance of his silver medal.
Anyway, Trump doesn’t need the media; he has the love of his big crowds of voters …
… ungrateful voters who fail to appreciate all of the sacrifices he’s made on their behalf.
In fairness to Trump, coming in second place in heavily Evangelical Iowa — while investing a fraction of what his rivals spent — really is an accomplishment. The Donald has long polled better in the upcoming states of New Hampshire and South Carolina. But if the media had unfair expectations for Trump on Monday night, he should probably put the blame on the guy who said this:
“Wouldn’t it be better off if you just said you want to do well in Iowa? No I want to win,” Trump told supporters in Cedar Rapids on Monday afternoon. “I could say I want to do well, that’s the safe way, I don’t want to do the safe way.”
