Trump suddenly "moderate" "If your opponent blows himself up, don't interrupt him"

The Republicans are keeping a low profile in the Biden debate: let the Democrats tear themselves apart. They, on the other hand, would like to turn the conversation to Donald Trump and Project 2025, which threatens his new image.

"A cognitive mess", Donald Trump calls the Democrats' party size on Truth Social. However, the 78-year-old is not describing Joe Biden, but Democrat Nancy Pelosi: the 84-year-old had previously kept a low profile in the MSNBC interview when it came to the age of the incumbent president.

This Pelosi had turned against "Crooked Joe", writes Trump. Exactly the same as with George Clooney, because the actor had spoken out in favor of Biden refraining from running again: "He turned on 'Crooked Joe' like rats, which they both are."

Trump goes on to list the alleged transgressions he accuses Biden of - but he doesn't say a word about the 81 years his opponent has been in the field. Even after the TV duel, the New Yorker does not do a happy dance. This makes a senior advisor to Democratic former President Barack Obama suspicious.

"Trump's new plan for 2024"

"Trump doesn't talk much about Biden's bad debate," writes David Axelrod on X. His campaign did not run any corresponding TV clips, the 69-year-old wonders. Trump's daughter Lara even said that it would be an affront to democracy if Biden were not nominated. "Question: Why are they holding back so uncharacteristically?"

The answer: "If your opponent is blowing himself up, don't interrupt him," Steve Stivers, who was once responsible for Republican campaigns, sums it up on "The Hill". "There's no reason to insert yourself into the conversation. Discipline on this issue is smart. I'm glad to see [Trump] learned from 2020, when he wasn't very disciplined."

"Axios" takes the same line: "advisers" are talking about "Trump's new 2024 plan". The fact that the former president is staying out of the Biden debate is therefore just as much a part of this as a more discreet style in the TV duels. In seven states, more than six groups of voters are reportedly to be addressed that could possibly be persuaded.

Trump can't get out of his skin

But it is not easy for Trump to pull himself together. Sometimes he writes on Truth Social: "Crazy Nancy Pelosi is an even bigger cognitive mess than 'Sleepy Crooked Joe'."

Sometimes he brags during the election campaign in Miami, Florida, that he won "the most overwhelming victory in the history of presidential debates" in the TV duel - with "one of the highest ratings in the history of television".

Crocodile tears are also flowing: it is "a shame" that the Democrats are now discussing "Crooked Joe's" candidacy. Even if he is "a very bad guy" - because Biden is instrumentalizing the judiciary.

Finally, Trump offers his political opponent the chance to redeem himself "in front of the whole world" - with another debate and an 18-hole golf duel. He also wants to give him a head start, says the 78-year-old juvenile. If Trump loses, he will donate a million dollars.

Trump's distancing gives a deep insight

Trump has a good laugh - for now. Because the Democrats are trying everything they can to turn the conversation back to him after the TV duel, when the topic was not Trump's constant lying but Biden's age. This is why the party is buying billboards in Miami that link Trump to Project 2025 before Trump's appearance.

Trump's denial on social media proves that this does not sit well with his new campaign tactics: He said he knew nothing about Project 2025, had no idea who was behind it and had absolutely nothing to do with it - even though there are more than 200 confidants and ex-employees behind it.

The reason: Project 2025 is the exact opposite of the "new Trump". It is about revenge on political opponents, restructuring the state and the administration as well as highly unpopular measures ranging from bans on abortion to contraception and pornography.

Radical restructuring of the state

The 900-page Project 2025 paper was devised by over 100 conservative organizations, explains "Last Week Tonight" - including the NRA. Soldiers should set up "fortresses" on the border with Mexico. And that is just the beginning, explains John Oliver: police corps should be obliged to stop and search people.

The NOAA should be disbanded - "the agency that tracks hurricanes and protects marine life", says Oliver. The reason: For the conservatives, NOAA is an engine of "the climate change alarm industry". Furthermore, the "Head Start" health program is to be curtailed and the Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation are to be restricted.

No stone would be left unturned in the administration if the project were to become reality: The position of the president would be upgraded, the separation of powers would be curtailed. And instead of replacing around 4,000 political employees, such as ministers or secretaries of state, as is currently the case, the project aims to appoint a further 50,000 employees.

This means that only those who toe Trump's line will get a job at airport security or the weather office. A conservative LinkedIn is to be developed to find this staff. This development was already approved by Trump in 2020 under the name Schedule F, who is now claiming ignorance.

Whether Joe Biden's age or Donald Trump's palace revolution will soon dominate the narrative in political Washington: it remains a choice of agony.