I take a lot of flak for not worshipping Donald Trump, and I get it.

NeverTrumpers kinda spoiled the field for the non-worshipping Trump supporters. After 7 years of constant unfair attacks on the former president, it’s hard not to assume that every criticism is unfair. Chances are that you are right that they are unfair.

But Trump is a human being, not a god. And even those of us who voted for him at least secretly know that his skillset overlaps more than a bit with P.T. Barnum’s. He is a showman first. Much of his success has been predicated upon his ability to grab attention, focus it on his target, and manipulate the narrative.

I think Trump was a good if exhausting president. He might even qualify as a great president but for his failure when it mattered most: during the COVID pandemic. He handed the country over to Anthony Fauci and empowered the Left to shut down our country, and he has never apologized for it or acknowledged his mistakes. I can understand why he did it, but his failure to acknowledge his terrible decisions is in my view disqualifying.

Not that I wouldn’t vote for him over any Democrat. Democrats are determined to destroy the country, so that would be an easy choice.

But Donald Trump is primarily a showman. And in the past two weeks, he proved to be a decent magician, faking us all out.

Trump made a prediction that, in retrospect, was nothing more than a bluff. I always suspected (and even wrote) that his real target wasn’t Alvin Bragg, the New York City prosecutor, but Governor DeSantis.

It has been a week and a half since Trump predicted he was going to be arrested imminently. He chose a specific day even.

And has spent every moment since attacking Governor DeSantis for not defending him against the indictment. Barely mentions the prosecutor at all. Every Trump proxy in the world has been attacking DeSantis for failing to stop a NYC prosecutor, for not mobilizing the national guard to defend Mar-a-Lago (hyperbole on my part!), and for being s Jeb! and Paul Ryan acolyte.

Donald Trump Jr. Blasts DeSantis Response to Looming Donald Trump Arrest: https://t.co/Av4MzQQhYS

— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) March 20, 2023

As an aside, The Don just hired a Jeb! guy to run his New Hampshire operation. Probably on the advice of Lindsay Graham and Charlie Crist, Trump’s new BFF.

Charlie Crist. For Crist’s sake, man. Charlie Crist is Trump’s favorite Florida governor now.

OMG, Trump just hired a former Jeb Bush guy to run his NH Campaign.
You literally cannot make this up!

Trump goes Jeb!https://t.co/XMrCBMH7zn pic.twitter.com/6FnTBnrrfa

— Bill Mitchell (@mitchellvii) March 28, 2023

None of us knows whether Alvin Bragg will bite the bullet and indict Trump, but it seems pretty clear that Trump himself doesn’t care that much about the charges. He certainly didn’t know anything about an indictment and arrest, since the grand jury was still hearing from witnesses.

His prediction was BS. He knew it was made up because he made it up.

He has decided to play up the possibility of an arrest to raise money, attack DeSantis, and generally create chaos he can manipulate.

Trump isn’t afraid of a misdemeanor charge. He is afraid of losing. Alvin Bragg is a foil, and Ron DeSantis is his declared enemy.

Trump is loving this. He is back in the spotlight, has a (pathetic) excuse to attack DeSantis, and even has the cover to hire Jeb! operatives while attacking DeSantis for being pictured with Jeb!.

Trump’s allies have been accusing DeSantis of every sin in the book. They are throwing sh!t against the wall to see what sticks, that’s all.

I’ll just say… Donald Trump wasn’t joking when he insinuated that Governor Ron DeSantis has some major skeletons in his closet.

A lot of those skeletons are all going to come out of the closet very soon .

Pun intended. pic.twitter.com/dzhUORjEHo

— Laura Loomer (@LauraLoomer) March 21, 2023

Like the audience at a magic show his supporters “ooh” and “ah” at his magicians’ skill and pretend to believe it isn’t all a show.

Will Trump get indicted? Who knows? Trump clearly doesn’t. He is just screwing with us, whipping up the hysteria.

Any indictment of the former president would be ridiculous. Purely performative, as so many attacks have been. Trump has been vilified and falsely attacked for nearly a decade now.

But that doesn’t mean that Trump is the good guy here and his enemies are the only bad guys. Trump is doing to DeSantis what his own enemies are doing to him: slandering for political purposes. His playing the victim and attacks on DeSantis are purely performative too.

Trump’s just a better performer than his enemies.It’s the same playbook though.