Chris Matthews: Trump Is No Longer ‘Scary,’ Reduced to a ‘Vaudeville Act’ as He Fixates on Appearance
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Former President Donald Trump no longer projects the menacing image he cultivated during his first campaign and now appears diminished, according to MSNBC’s Chris Matthews. Matthews, speaking on “Morning Joe,” suggested that Trump is increasingly fixated on trivial matters, particularly his appearance, which only highlights his insecurity and weakness.
Recently, Trump made headlines for his comments about a Time magazine cover featuring Vice President Kamala Harris. He remarked that the image reminded him of his wife, Melania Trump, and went on to claim at a rally that he is “better looking” than Harris. Matthews interpreted these comments as a sign of Trump’s growing insecurity.
“Trump looks like an idiot when he talks about being a Miss America contestant or that he is better looking than her,” Matthews said. “He is not the Godzilla he presented himself as with Hillary [Clinton]. He’s out there bragging about his appearance. That’s not a scary guy – that’s a vaudeville act, that’s a joke.”
Matthews predicted that Kamala Harris would aggressively confront Trump in their upcoming debate, making him appear small and weak—a stark contrast to his behavior during the 2016 debates when he loomed menacingly behind Hillary Clinton, told Raw Story.
“I think [Harris] can point to him with that command authority she had when she announced her candidacy for president,” Matthews said. “I think she can be strong in the room. You know, when Nixon lost to Kennedy, I went back and I have been watching those tapes, those are all available – look at the tapes. Kennedy came on with eight minutes of aggressive arguments about the Cold War and saying, ‘What we fight about here in America is important in the fight against the Russians,’ and he was able to show strength. Nixon had to play defense that whole time; it was like Nixon was trying to get Kennedy to like him.”
Matthews emphasized that Trump’s reliance on superficial comments won’t serve him well in the upcoming debates. “This time around, Trump cannot pull the Miss America number and say, ‘I’m better looking than her,'” Matthews added. “He can’t play Godzilla again. He will have to stand there and take it because she will be aggressive.”
As the Democratic National Convention approaches, Matthews noted that President Joe Biden is expected to symbolically pass the torch to Harris during his speech, setting her up as the future of the Democratic Party. Matthews argued that this would only further diminish Trump in the eyes of the public.
“I think it is going to be a wonderful week,” Matthews said. “Outside the debates, there will be, of course, the rallying and the protests and all, but I think she is going to show youth tomorrow, and Trump will look like an old act.”
With Trump increasingly focused on his appearance and less on substantial policy issues, Matthews concluded that the former president’s aura of power and intimidation is fading, leaving him more vulnerable than ever in the political arena.
