@GottaLaff I'm not sure it was a disaster at all. He wanted to 1. grab headlines for fueling them-vs-us racial conflict, 2. excite his base by showing how brazenly racist he's willing to be (à la asking April Ryan if the Congressional Black Caucus were friends of hers—deliberately open racism), 3. make it look like PoC with any power or influence will use it to abuse white men, 4. portray journalists as fake.

He may have accomplished exactly what he intended.

@junecasagrande His base isn't growing.

Independent/swing voters saw this.

The headlines were terrible for him.

Yes, it was a disaster.

@GottaLaff You could be right. But if his strategy is to mobilize his base — perhaps to get them to the polls, perhaps just to get them up in arms and ready for violence next Jan. 6 — this would be the way to do it.

Maddow had interesting observation about him saying at events that he doesn't want votes, doesn't need them. Possible interpretation: he's counting on hell-raising "patriots" plus 70+ election deniers in swing-state election roles to render votes (including Black votes) moot.