For Trump, the Handwriting’s on the Wall
THE FXBG ADVANCE WEDNESDAY 7/22/26 MIDDAY READ
By Donnie Johnston, ADVANCE COLUMNIST
Donald Trump can see the handwriting on the wall. And he is frightened.
He understands if that if Democrats take control of Congress following the November mid-term elections, he will almost certainly be impeached for a third time, on multiple charges.
A non-Republican Congress will likely also investigate members of his administration with the intention of pursuing criminal charges wherever possible.
In order to counter a possible Republican defeat in November, Trump went on national television Thursday night to lay the groundwork for what will inevitably be his claim that this year’s elections were rigged.
In other words, if Republicans lose, he will say “I told you so!” and may well try to declare those elections illegal and have them thrown out, by executive order, of course, not by constitutional means, and possibly by using military force.
His Thursday rant, which three major TV networks refused to carry, was also an attempt to intimidate Republican voters who might vote Democrat in the fall. Intimidation has been Trump’s modus operandi during his second term.
And he could not get through the “speech” without bringing up his delusional assertion that he actually won the 2020 election, despite all evidence to the contrary.
He cited “evidence” that the Chinese hacked into voting machines—despite that fact that voting machines are not hooked to the internet, and that all involve paper ballots, which can be and in disputed precincts were counted separately.
And as for the Chinese hacking voter rolls, well, they are available to anyone anywhere who is willing to pay for them. Big companies use them all the time for solicitation purposes.
And members of both parties are allowed to be observers in the election and ballot counting process. As a reporter, I’ve watched it happen many times.
In his rant, Trump compared the American voting system to that of third-world countries. He failed to realize that he was elected under that “third world” system in both 2016 and 2024.
Republican Rep. Thomas Massie called it right. He reminded Republicans who are claiming election fraud that their party controls the House of Representatives, the Senate, and the presidency. All were elected under our “third-world” and “rigged” system.
Where were Trump’s rigged elections then. I guess they’re only rigged when Republicans lose.
I have used the word “delusional” because that’s the president’s state of mind in a nutshell. He can’t get past his 2020 defeat, and he feels the need to blame all his—and the country’s— troubles on his predecessors, Barrack Obama and Joe Biden.
Trump lives in a world of paranoia, where he believes that these two men are still out to get him. He just can’t let go of a world he has created in his own mind, what’s left of it.
Here’s the part that Americans should worry about. What does Trump do if Republicans lose control of Congress, and his delusional world comes tumbling down in January? How does he react when impeachment proceedings begin? Remember, during this second term he has seldom accepted the rule of law.
Do his followers make another attack on the Capitol or some other symbol of authority? Does he go ballistic and, just to spite the Democrats and the world, turn to the nuclear arsenal of which he has the launch codes, in effect saying, “If I can’t rule America, nobody will?”
If you think his current state of mind is bad, think what it would be if he is impeached again. There is no telling what he might do.
Then again, if Republicans, who pander to Trump as if he were king, do win in November, it is uncertain to what ends he might go with uncontrolled power during his final two years in office—with the distinct possibility that he may try to run again in 2028, or attempt to remain in power no matter what.
In other words, I worry about this country regardless of how the mid-term elections turn out. Trump will not accept defeat, and who knows where two more years of increased power would lead.
Trump and high-ranking members of his administration understand that his—and their—future hangs in the balance, and that GOP losses in the mid-term elections could lead to impeachment and possibly jail. Small wonder the president is already trying to eliminate the World Court.
His speech set the stage for a future claim that the elections were rigged, and the possible confiscation of all voting machines by federal officials come November.
The man seems to have a plan, and it benefits him, not America.
