Maggie Haberman Greets ‘Pariah, Felon, President-Elect’ Trump’s Victory With Brutal Deep Dive On Fight ‘Back To Power’
Author, CNN commentator and New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman greeted “Pariah, Felon” President-elect Donald Trump’s victory with a brutal warts-and-all deep dive that also acknowledged the qualities that helped Trump regain power.
Haberman — rightly considered an expert on Trump with deep experience reporting on the subject and a network of Trumpworld sources that give her up-to-the-minute insights — made an appearance on CNN hours ahead of Trump’s eventual victory Tuesday to deliver some of that insight.
She told Anderson Cooper that it was striking to see Trump speaking so recklessly as the race drew to a close:
It is pretty dramatic, at a rally a couple of days ago, he talked about how he should not have left the White House at the end of his term, despite having lost and despite another president certified in the Electoral College victory.
And musing about shooting reporters. Again, we are used to him saying things that are well outside the political norm. Most candidates don’t do that in the closing days of the and he typically has not done that in his closing days. We will see what effect it has.
On Wednesday morning, Haberman met Trump’s overnight victory with an unsparing profile — co-authored by Matt Flegenheimer and Jonathan Swan — whose title said it all: “Pariah, Felon, President-Elect: How Trump Fought His Way Back to Power.”
The piece alternated between brutal assessments of Trump and cold reality, characterized by passages like this:
At his rallies he was often incoherent, holding forth on Hannibal Lecter’s fictional brutality or Arnold Palmer’s genitalia, but rarely boring to his most zealous supporters, who continued to thrill at his merger of politics and entertainment.
He flashed some hustle on the campaign trail: the man with the golden tower serving fries at McDonald’s.
Haberman answered her own question about the effect of Trump’s recklessness in the article’s conclusion:
His closing events could feel almost custom designed to antagonize late-deciding voters.
The Democrats? “Demonic,” he said.
Journalists? If they get shot, he said, “I don’t mind.”
Mr. Trump’s first White House term? “I shouldn’t have left,” he said.
Modulation would never come; it never had to, as Mr. Trump had wagered all along.
He is still promising retribution against his enemies and a campaign of mass deportation.
He is still adamant that he has never lost an election and never could.
He still knows what his followers see in him — the fury, the fight, the balm of “us” in an us-versus-them world.
He is who he is: the president-elect.
Watch above via CNN.
