Donald Trump is imploding. We shouldn't scorn his former fans — we should welcome them - Toronto Star

We're witnessing one of the most spectacular political implosions in history.

“Many red hats now see an emperor without clothes,” writes Vinay Menon.

Vinay Menon is the Star’s pop culture columnist based in Toronto. Reach him via email: vmenon@thestar.ca

A new genre is emerging in American media: voter remorse stories.

The setting is a gas pump or grocery store. The reporter finds someone who voted for Donald Trump three times and asks questions. The subject, never wearing a red hat these days, grimaces, blinks rapidly and launches into some linguistic variant of, “I regret voting for him.”

Recent headlines: “Trump Voter Reveals Deep Regret as Wife Faces Deportation.” “Feeling Duped: Trump Voters Go From Hope to Regret.” “Donald Trump’s MAGA Cult Is Finally Crumbling.” “GOP Pollster Says MAGA Is ‘Disillusioned’ As Trump Myth Goes Up In Smoke.”

The voter remorse genre kicked into high gear this spring when NBC interviewed Pennsylvania peeps. (Shout out to Harrisburg, where I spent many childhood summers.) One woman, a Trump three-timer, was asked what she would say to the president if he was watching.

She swivels her sunglasses toward the camera: “You are a worthless pile of s — t!”

When reminded of her voting record, she adds, “That was my bad. Apparently, I’m an idiot.”

No, Amanda Robbins. You are not an idiot. You saw the light. Let me hug you.

We are witnessing one of the most spectacular political implosions in history.

Trump’s lies have caught up with him, hog-tied him and left him next to a slop bucket of MAGA broken dreams. The cult was gung ho to cheer on Dear Leader when he was mocking libs or promising to fix everything “on Day 1.”

This shtick is now intolerable on Day 618. Even Tucker Carlson is appalled. Everything costs more. Millions have lost health care. Idiotic tariffs, including a trade war with Canada, are piledriving wallets on both sides of the border.

Many red hats now see an emperor without clothes, a Pinocchio who keeps looting taxpayer dollars while enriching his grifting offspring.

Trump never cared about MAGA. This is coming into painful focus for them.

If his name can’t go on the Kennedy Center, he plans to bulldoze the cultural shrine out of toddler spite. He has taken to slapping a “national security” excuse on his caprices and grievances:

I’m banning certain media outlets for … national security. I need a new ballroom for … national security. My proposed 250-foot Arc de Dumbass will house snipers and drones and the arches will be filled with bullets just in case ghosts from the Confederate army attack souvenir stands near the Lincoln Memorial.

How long until he demands free hookers for national security?

All of this is turbocharging the voter remorse. I heard one Trump three-timer blurt this out on airwaves: “I never thought I’d say this. But I miss Joe Biden.”

As Newsweek reported this week, Chump’s approval rating dipped to the lowest level of his second term. The man is so underwater, he should take his afternoon naps in scuba gear. On Tuesday, Harry Enten, CNN’s data analyst, detailed how white voters without college degrees are waist-deep in remorse.

They yearn for a mulligan or time machine. In two years, on the issue of inflation, Trump has gone from +24 to -39 with this demo.

“Oh my goodness gracious!” said Enten, who may stroke out on live TV as he keeps flashing these apocalyptic graphics detailing Trump’s numerical backslide. “That’s a change of 63 points in the wrong direction, on the key issue that got Donald Trump re-elected to a second term …”

It’s as if Leaf fans started cheering for the Canadiens.

So the question becomes: How do we welcome the red hats back to polite society? How do we graciously accept their sheepish apologies and find a La-Z-Boy so they can recline on the right side of history? Do we do what the Puritans did in 1697, when judge Samuel Sewall issued a mea culpa for his role in the Salem witch trials and all was forgiven by the public even though he sent innocent people to the gallows?

This is the conundrum of a voter remorse presidency. It’s tempting to rage and blame and banish the millions of red hats who gave us Trump 2.0 despite the warning signs a second term would play out as a global horror flick.

It’s tempting to make them eternal pariahs and bask in schadenfreude.

But forgiveness is the better option. As in, better late than never. These people were hoodwinked into believing they were buying a talking toaster. Then they discovered there are no refunds and warranties. Now they are stuck with a malfunctioning appliance that only chars bread and speaks gibberish during breakfast. They want out of the kitchen and we should pry open the door.

So to the red hats who feel genuine remorse, to those who now realize they voted for a charlatan, I salute your about-face. I welcome you back to sanity. Thank you for not doubling down. Thank you for finally seeing the light.

Donald Trump betrayed you. The rest of us will not.

Opinion articles are based on the author’s interpretations and judgments of facts, data and events. More details

Vinay Menon is the Star’s pop culture columnist based in Toronto. Reach him via email: vmenon@thestar.ca