President Donald J. Trump gestures with a fist pump as he walks across the tarmac upon his arrival Thursday, Oct. 15, 2020, to Pitt-Greenville Airport in Greenville, S.C. (Official White House Photo by Shealah Craighead)
In The Spectator, Freddy Gray discusses Donald Trump’s reelection to the office of the President of the United States of America and calls it “the most remarkable political comeback in American history.” Gray writes:
Donald Trump’s bid to take back the White House has been triumphant. It is a decisive victory and even Trump’s bitterest enemies should recognize him for what he is: an American titan, the most extraordinary politician of our time. He has just pulled off arguably the biggest comeback in US history — a feat greater even than Richard Nixon’s Lazarus-like return in 1968.
To understand the scale of his victory, recall how weakly he began. On November 15, 2022, when Trump launched his now-triumphant bid to regain the presidency, he did not seem himself. His formal campaign announcement, delivered in the ballroom of his club in Mar-a-Lago, Florida, lacked the zing of his famous entry into the 2016 race, when he floated down the escalator of Trump Tower in New York.
The Trump of 2022 had countless legal problems and he’d been widely blamed for the Republican Party’s disappointing performance in the midterm elections. Republican donors and the right-wing media were lining up behind Ron DeSantis, the Florida governor, the coming man. Back then Trump looked disgruntled. “I don’t like to think of myself as a politician,” he said. “But I guess that’s what I am. I hate that thought.” Critics called his performance “low-energy” — turning one of his favorite insults against him.
But the Donald was only ever down, not out. “Trump fatigue,” as people called it, turned out to be a mirage and the Trump of 2024 is jubilant, albeit exhausted, having accomplished his extraordinary reelection mission. “I’ll never be doing a rally again, can you believe it?” he said in his victory speech, sounding truly sad. But, he added, “success is going to bring us together.” Whatever else you think of him, it would be hard not to admit that Trump has grit. He has survived eight years of the most brutal political warfare — two impeachments, two assassination attempts, four criminal indictments, endless media ridicule and opprobrium — and emerged victorious again. He has won back the presidency.
It was at around 10:30 in Palm Beach on Tuesday night when the mood at the Trump campaign’s “watch party” started to brighten. Nobody wanted to speak too soon, but the crowd began to whoop louder and louder as the good news poured in from Georgia and North Carolina. The Democratic Blue Wall — Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania — took time to fall. But there was a quiet confidence that the Democrats were about to face a great repudiation. “We’ve delivered for people in Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania. And [Kamala Harris] hasn’t,” said Corey Lewandowski, Trump’s longtime advisor.
In 2016, Trump forged a new working-class coalition to beat Hillary Clinton. That coalition fell short in 2020 so he strengthened it by adding more Latino and African-American voters. He became the first politician to engage successfully with the “manosphere,” the growing group of disgruntled men who feel ignored and alienated by progressive policies. In key swing states, young men leapt on the Trump train. “This is karma, ladies and gentlemen,” said Dana White, head of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, who joined Trump’s victory speech. “Nobody deserves this more than him.”
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