You Can’t Fix Stupid

Donald Trump's recent sit-down with Time Magazine for a wide-ranging interview under the title "If He Wins" provides clues that he has become increasingly "unfit" to hold office again, according to a professor from Arizona State University.

In his Substack column, author and scholar Steven Beschloss claimed every voter should be alarmed by the former president's answers, including suggestions that he is not averse to violence similar to the Jan. 6 Capitol riot if he fails to win re-election in 2024.

Posing the question over whether Trump is "unfit" to serve in the Oval Office again, he added the former president is now "dangerously unfit."

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Writing that Trump told Time reporter Eric Cortellessa of his desire to "pardon January 6 insurrectionists, deploy the National Guard in American cities at will, give police immunity from prosecution, close the White House office responsible for pandemic preparedness, and permit red states to monitor women’s pregnancies and prosecute abortion ban violators," Beschloss claimed Trump's replies should raise red flags about his mental state.

Noting a close reading of the Time transcript reveals, "a deeply untrustworthy man untethered from reality, swarming in lies, absorbed by grievance, unable to grapple with policy nuance and dependent on empty slogans to motivate himself," he added, "None of this is surprising, but when you read through the hours of interview material, you can see just how shallow his thinking is, how unreliable are his pronouncements and equivocations, how utterly ill-equipped he is to confront the complexities of our modern world — and, really, how crazy it is that serious people are forced to take this man seriously."

According to Beschloss, Trump seems to believe "his rejection of factual reality is a badge of honor."

With that in mind, he warned, "It will take more than divine intervention to ensure a man like this never sees the inside of the Oval Office again. It will take all of us — and tens of millions of others who decide that they will vote and do everything they can to ensure the survival of American democracy, the promise of America, basic human decency and the primacy of factual reality."

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MANHATTAN CRIMINAL COURT — Donald Trump's judge launched into Friday's hearing by fact-checking the former president's claim that a gag order was stopping him from taking the stand in his own defense.

Trump had made the complaints in front of TV cameras as he left the courtroom after proceedings closed in his hush money trial Thursday.

"I'm not allowed to testify because of the unconstitutional gag order," he said. "We're appealing the gag order and let's see what happens."

Trump was fined $9,000 earlier this week for violating the order, which forbids him from talking about potential witnesses, jurors, court staff or their families in the case, which has hit him with 34 charges of falsifying business records involving payments to adult movie actress Stormy Daniels to cover up a sexual relationship she allegedly had with him before the 2106 election.

Judge Juan Merchan started Friday's hearing by talking directly to Trump — and putting him right.

"There may be a misunderstanding how it impacts Trump's right to testify," the judge said. "I want to say the Mr. Trump, you have an absolute right to testify. The order restricting extrajudicial statements does not restrict you from testifying in any way. As the name of the order indicates, it only applies to extrajudicial statements."

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Trump has said he intends to take the stand in his own defense in the trial, though several experts have suggested that may not be wise.

The former president began the day in court smiling as he whispered to his lawyers, but he turned on a scowl when the cameras showed up before proceedings started.