Trump’s annus horribilis
cascade keeps mounting

Mary Trump’s tell-all book, tax return disclosure, RVAT and more…

By Byron Toben

The dominos keep tumbling.

In my earlier summary, 2020 is Donald Trump’s annus horribilis, I listed the 14 best-seller Trump expose books, the rise of anti-Trump Republicans, the loss of some military and judicial support, the George Floyd police murder protests, the St. James Church debacle and his constant twittering as key elements.

I had hardly rested from that article when events required a follow-up, More on Donald Trump’s annus horribilis.

Hence a loss in key evangelical figure support, mishandling of the COVID-19 crisis, sports teams support for Black Lives Matter kneeling, Tulsa indoor rally flop, West Point physical tottering, and a revisiting of brutal elderly tenant harassment back in the 1960s, all of which reminded me of the Theatre of the Absurd.

Now, events continue to point to a Trump downfall.

Mary Trump – Image: Peter Serling

Mary Trump book
Too Much And Never Enough: How My Family Created The World’s Most Dangerous Man by Mary Trump, (Donald’s niece and herself a clinical psychologist) tells family secrets.

RVAT (Republican Voters Against Trump) emergence
In addition to the biting anti-Trump ads put out by traditional Republicans on The Lincoln Project, another such group posts under RVAT. Some of its leaders include Bill Kristol, Sarah Longwell and Tim Miller.

Poll spread margins
National polls all show Biden leading Trump by double-digit margins, even in the so-called “swing states”, this true in both voter intention and likeability polls.

Supreme court ruling on tax returns
The US Supreme Court has ruled 7 to 2 that Presidents are not immune to Congressional disclosure. Even the two dissents were guarded. (Can release of high school and university records be far behind?)

Pardon of Roger Stone
The presidential pardon of friend Roger Stone, even before serving one day for a criminal conviction (and even against the advice of Attorney General William Barr!), is gathering storm.

Campaign financing
While the Trump campaign is still ahead, $996 million to Biden’s $557 million, as of June 20, according to Federal Election Commission reports, the monthly momentum has shifted to Biden. (By the way, what happened to the $500 million that Michael Bloomberg pledged to whichever Democratic candidate was finally agreed upon?)

Conclusion

All of the signs and portents in this and my preceding two articles about Trump’s annus horribilis lead to a landslide 62 % Democratic victory in 2020. (James Monroe, running unopposed, garnered 90.57% of the votes in 1820. In 1936, Franklin Roosevelt achieved 60.7 % against Alf Landon and in 1964, Lyndon Johnson 61.1 % vs. Barry Goldwater.)

And yet, Trump has a few cards up his sleeve and may, despite all 2020 developments, still survive.

Hold on to your seat belts for my next article!

Feature image: courtesy of the Trump Campaign

Read more articles from Byron Toben

Byron Toben, a past president of The Montreal Press Club, has been WestmountMag.ca’s theatre reviewer since July 2015. Previously, he wrote for since terminated web sites Rover Arts and Charlebois Post, print weekly The Downtowner and print monthly The Senior Times. He also is an expert consultant on U.S. work permits for Canadians.