Thread by @ProducerMcD

What's happening to Trump right now is truly breathtaking because it's probably the first time it's ever happened to him in his life.

This wall nonsense is the ultimate comeuppance to a guy who never gave a shit about anything he ever said or promised. /1

To Trump, everything is bullshit, 100% of the time, and he’s been trained to believe that one amount of bullshit can always be counterweighted with a similar amount of bullshit. /2

There are precisely TWO and only two things in which that formulation does not work for him as President:

Appointing conservative pro-life judges and cracking down on immigration. /3

He delivered on the first one without really lifting a finger. So there were no lessons to heed. No warnings that his entire way of operating could backfire.

So here he is, thinking this Wall gambit is just like every other ounce of bullshit that’s ever come out of his mouth. /4

"Oh, there's not going to be a Wall? No problem. I'll just do my Mr. Deals tap-dance over to something else and sell them on that. Steel Slats, baby!" /5

This is the consequence of just parroting Fox News/talk radio vitriol without really understanding it.

And it's just now dawning on him.

“Oh, wait. They seriously wanted this?!? Like, an actual wall???? Oh, fuck.” /6

It's clear now that he never really got what "Mexico will pay for it" meant. It was just another catchy call and response for him, but he didn't really think through what he was activating when he said it. /7

Which is why "Mexico will pay for it because the New NAFTA deal is so good, it's like we're saving money" died an instant and pathetic death.

It's why Ann Coulter and Fox & Friends are pissed off enough that he might still have to shutdown the government. /8

Because when they were chanting "Mexico will pay for the Wall" they meant "We will HUMILIATE THEM and I will finally feel satisfied that the President of the United States hates these people as much as me!" /9

"Mexico will pay for it" meant the President of Mexico would come across the border while Rock You Like A Hurricane played on loudspeakers as he handed Trump a check.

And then Trump would El Kabong him with a guitar. Anything less than that, more or less, is a loss. /10

It was a crazy miscalculation on his part. Especially for a guy who is usually very good at reading the lizard brain desires of his supporters.

And after seeing him do this successfully for the better part of 30 years of my life, it's very satisfying to watch him faceplate. /END

(I'm ok with trying to make "faceplate" a thing, but also not ok with autocorrect changing face plant to faceplate.)