Is There Anything Trump Can't Ruin?

Donald Trump has the reverse-Midas Touch. Everything he touches turns to junk. Sometimes literally (see the White House East Wing). Sometimes algae-infested junk (see the Reflecting Pool). And other times just sucking the joy, celebration, unity, and sanity out of things (see the embarrassing build-up to July 4th and his bizarre speech at the big event). This is a president who sends Pete Hegseth to the D-Day celebration to insult our allies. Someone who took a recovering economy and tanked it again.

Who else but Trump could sabotage America’s support of the U.S. World Cup’s team? Yes, the red card on America’s top scorer was a bad call. Bad calls are a part of any sport. By inserting himself into the issue and cajoling FIFA to bend/ignore/undermine its rules, he diminishes the accomplishment of the U.S. team. What’s worse is that knowing that Trump will take the credit if America wins against Belgium today makes it hard to root for the home team. Sigh.

As for this cartoon’s question, Is There Anything Trump Can’t Ruin? the answer comes to us today from Maine. Democrats’ chances of winning the Senate in November become much harder if they can’t defeat Susan Collins. Yet if the Democratic nominee, Graham Platner, doesn’t withdraw, defeating Collins becomes exponentially harder. He might have survived the racist and sexist Reddit posts, the Nazi tattoo, and women claiming he was a scary date. Now he’s accused of sexual assault. Really? That’s the best we can do in the Maine Senate race?

Actually, Maine Democrats have some great alternatives. In the same June primary in which they nominated Platner, they selected former Maine House Speaker Hannah Pingree as their candidate for Governor in a close contest. Three of her opponents showed substantial strength: Troy Jackson, the former President of the Maine Senate, Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, and former director of the Maine Center for Disease Control Nirav Shah. All three have proven campaign teams and followings. All have political strengths. Jackson, for example, represented a rural community in far northern Maine, which cuts into Collins’ political base.

The point is, Platner can withdraw from the race by July 13th to remove his name from the November ballot. The Maine Democratic Party will then have until July 27th to choose his replacement. And they have strong options. Here’s hoping Maine Democrats can pull this off before Trump can ruin it.

sketchier