Thread by @ThePlumLineGS

1) Trump gazed in "horror" at the sea of empty seats at his rally, and raged at aides over it, a new report says.

His aides conceded to one another that he had failed to bend reality to his will.

This could go down as an iconic moment.

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/…

2) The iconic moment of a modern president losing control of events, and of his public image, is LBJ holed up in the White House, confiding to advisers that his political capital had bled away, as antiwar protesters chanted outside.

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/…

3) Like Trump, LBJ was consumed with self pity and paranoia. He blamed the east coast media for working against him. He told himself the people were secretly with him.

But LBJ finally admitted he'd lost control of events. He declined to run for reelex.

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/…

4) Unlike LBJ, who accepted that events had overwhelmed him, Trump continues to operate from the premise that he can manufacture the *illusion* that coronavirus has been soundly defeated and that we're roaring back to greatness.

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/…

5) But Trump's advisers concede to NYT that many of his own supporters don't believe this -- which helps explain the sparse turnout, they believe.

It's an iconic moment that Trump realized his magical lying powers may have deserted him.

Full piece here:

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/…