I’d like to stop writing about Donald Trump. I really would! But he simply won’t go away and in fact is an increasing threat to America. On Wednesday morning he showed one of his weaknesses. Will the authorities exploit it?

Early Wednesday morning Trump did a telephone radio interview – telephone interviews are his favorite format – with NPR’s Steve Inskeep. It was scheduled to go 15 minutes. Inskeep kept countering with the truth in reaction to Trump’s repeating the Big Lie. Trump prematurely ended the interview with a collection of his greatest hits (read: lies) and hanging up.

The first question that comes to mind is why would Trump do an interview with a legitimate journalist like Inskeep? The answer is that he craves attention, doesn’t realize how stupid he sounds to all but his followers and actually thinks he can outsmart everyone else.

Here is how the interview went. Trump would utter one of his long debunked lies. Inskeep would counter it with the truth (Kryptonite to Trump). Trump would come up with some excuse that nobody at a sixth grade or above reading level would accept.

The latest Trump “proof” that the election was stolen was that his late campaign crowds were much larger than Biden’s. That is true for various reasons but it is irrelevant, especially in a pandemic where one campaign is acting prudently and the other is not. History, (like math, reading and critical thinking) are not among Trump’s strengths but here is an American political history lesson: George Wallace drew large and enthusiastic crowds too. I don’t remember a President Wallace.

During the Trump presidency, I repeatedly wrote that to understand the Trump administration you had to think of it in terms of an organized criminal enterprise. So far, the post-presidency hasn’t been much different. Trump keeps up the Big Lie because he is turning it into big money. If Trump is still rich – he may not be for long – it is because he was born rich. He never really made any money on his own; at best it looks like he pretty much broke even (with a $400 million head start from daddy) in his business career. How many other people do you know who went bankrupt multiple times in the casino business?

Today people are still making donations to Trump and his causes as well as he is getting the Republican National Committee to pay substantial portions of his legal bills for alleged crimes committed prior to running for or holding office. Trump is a con man extraordinaire.

I recently caught a Book TV spot where Peter Baker of the New York Times interviewed Jonathan Karl of ABC News. Baker asked Karl why Trump granted him an interview for his book. Trump had to know that Karl was not a Fox News sycophant. Karl explained that it was Trump’s ego (which I will add is only equaled by his rather substantial waistline and derriere). The interview was held in a lobby area leading to the bar at Mar-a-Lago as people came in for Happy Hour. As if the spectacle wasn’t enough, Trump repeatedly interrupted it to announce its occurrence to the people in the lobby. Trump is a man largely ruled by his ego.

Karl’s theory of if Trump will run in 2024 is slightly different than mine. He is convinced Trump will lead people to believe he is running – which keeps the money roiling in – and will only consider pulling out at the last possible moment if he thinks he will lose. That’s not a bad analysis of the facts.

Republicans – assuming there are any real Republicans who care about their party left – don’t be comforted by the above. Trump cares nothing about the GOP and is liable to pull out well after the convention leaving the ticket in disarray.

This illustrates why voting rights legislation is so crucial. Trump can definitely win in 2024 if the people’s votes are nullified. I am convinced that a second Trump term will be the end of American democracy as we know it.

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