Frank Bruni: Subtler Trump Is More Terrifying Than Unhinged Trump

There are at least two versions of former President Donald Trump: the “unhinged” version that baffles critics with tangents about the viability of electric boats and whatever point he was trying to make about sharks to landlocked Nevadans, not to mention his apparent fascination with the fictional villain Hannibal Lecter.

But then there’s the subtler, “less unhinged” Trump — a version that New York Times columnist Frank Bruni finds “much, much more” terrifying. Writing in the Times on Thursday, Bruni explained that this latter Trump is more worrisome because it shows an understanding of what he’s doing. “It tells me that he understands what a turning point the June 27 debate was, realizes the virtue of stepping back while pundits pummel Biden and the Democratic Party reels, and can sporadically muster the discipline to do so,” wrote Bruni.

“He smells victory in November in a way he’s never really smelled it before, and his nose isn’t off. As I said: terrifying.” Moreover, the more restrained Trump signals that either he or his closest advisers have identified his “vulnerabilities” and are trying to win over key voters. Bruni points to the GOP platform’s easing of its stances on abortion and same-sex marriage — a beacon as if to say: “Yoo-hoo, suburban women, you can safely park your votes here!”

It’s false, said Bruni, but Trump is a seasoned liar. And if he’s capable of what Bruni calls a “costume change” for the next four months, watch out, especially as Biden slips in the polls. “Trump, for his part, may use that distraction to regroup and — to the very limited but potentially consequential extent possible — reintroduce himself to fitfully engaged voters as someone who doesn’t see a moat filled with reptiles as the answer to illegal immigration, whose real-world preoccupations don’t mimic the reel-world plots of ‘Jaws’ and ‘The Silence of the Lambs,’ who needn’t be the flamboyant center of attention every single minute of every single hour of every single day,” wrote Bruni.

Bruni’s column comes as the Biden campaign reportedly commissioned a survey to determine whether Vice President Kamala Harris had better odds of defeating Trump if she became the Democratic nominee. It also comes as the chorus against Biden continues to grow, with former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) reportedly privately telling House Democrats she believes the president ought to step aside as the party’s nominee.

As the political landscape shifts and Trump shows signs of strategic recalibration, Bruni warns that the subtler version of Trump could be the most dangerous yet, capable of exploiting vulnerabilities and rebranding himself in ways that could sway pivotal voters.