Kim Il-sung of North Korea reportedly sought transfusions of blood from young men; Mao Zedong of China believed sex with young women could prolong his life; Muammar Gaddafi underwent fat injections and hair transplantation to make himself look younger.
uncertain
himself → seek → injections
But for Donald Trump, the secret of eternal youth lies in nights like this.
asserted
secret → lie → this
The occasion of the Republican midterm convention in Dallas was enough to get the 80-year-old US president’s juices flowing.
asserted
juices → get → Dallas
An arena with thousands of fanatical supporters indulging his lies, laughing at his jokes and burnishing his fantasies of greatness is Trump’s happy place.
asserted
laughing → indulge → greatness
It certainly beats stuffy Washington.
asserted
It → beat → Washington
“State of the Union, you have to be very staid,” he said, feigning stiffness and a dreary voice: “Ladies and gentlemen, it’s an honour to be your president.”
asserted
it → have → stiffness
The crowd laughed.
asserted
crowd → laugh → ?
Trump continued: “You do that for about an hour and then everybody’s falling asleep.
asserted
everybody → continue → hour
This is a much harder routine, let me tell you.
asserted
me → let → you
We’re also out here to have a little bit of fun.”
asserted
We → ’re → fun
The crowd roared.
asserted
crowd → roar → ?
It is there in the dramatic foreign policy aimed at reshaping the world.
asserted
It → aim → world
It is there in the barrage of social media posts and AI slop in which Trump appears as a young and virile all-conquering hero.
asserted
Trump → appear → hero
It was also there on Wednesday night as Trump milked the adulation of his fanbase, the Make America Great Again diehards who, in some cases, have followed him for more than a decade.
asserted
who → milk → decade
He was visibly gratified to see the “front row Joes” from his rallies, including Blake Marnell, who wears a brick-patterned suit resembling his brick wall.
asserted
who → gratify → wall
The president spoke for an hour and 44 minutes, surpassing his own record length convention speech set in Milwaukee two years ago.
asserted
president → speak → Milwaukee
He never stopped to sip water, though the adrenaline shot of this crowd, as devoted as his aide Natalie Harp, likely could have kept him going much longer.
uncertain
shot → stop → him
Anyone who suspected that this unconventional convention would be a “Trump-a-palooza” had the view reinforced when Lee Greenwood sang (somewhat shakily) “God Bless the USA”, the familiar intro to Trump campaign rallies.
asserted
God → suspect → rallies
A giant video screen with the US flag slowly rose to reveal dozens of mainly female Trump fans, waving little flags and smiling exuberantly.
asserted
screen → rise → flags
Trump, wearing a navy blue suit, white shirt and blue tie, walked slowly across the shiny black stage, trimmed with gold.
asserted
Trump → wear → gold
Chants of “USA! USA!” erupted as the song finished.
asserted
song → erupt → USA
“Welcome to the first ever midterm convention of any party,” Trump said, conveniently ignoring three that the Democrats held in the 1970s and 1980s.
asserted
Democrats → welcome → 1970s
He soon told another lie.
asserted
He → tell → lie
“Not only is this packed, but you have an equal number of people standing outside.
asserted
you → pack → people
If anybody would like to give up their seat!”
asserted
anybody → like → seat
In fact there were dozens of empty seats in the stadium, with the “nosebleeds” in the upper tier mostly unfilled.
asserted
nosebleeds → be → tier
Making the dubious boast that no one had left the arena after 80 minutes, the president said: “It’s a great tribute to Trump …
asserted
It → make → Trump
Everybody loves me and I love everybody!”
asserted
I → love → everybody
But the most grievous lie came when he falsely claimed to have won three presidential elections, and declared, also falsely, that “people on the other side are actually admitting it”.
asserted
people → come → it
The crowd cheered and shouted: “Four more years!”
asserted
crowd → cheer → years
This was political theatre of the absurd with many bizarre Trumpian riffs, ranging from bad sporting trades involving the Dallas Mavericks and Babe Ruth to how Trump had to sacrifice hygiene for his political career so he could shake hands (“I’m a very clean person”).
uncertain
I → range → hands
In trying to champion Texas attorney general Ken Paxton for the US Senate, he said: “He may not dress right, he may not talk exactly perfectly and he may not be the best looking guy I’ve ever seen but you know what he is?
uncertain
he → try → Senate
He’s the greatest attorney general in America and he deserves to be your next senator.
asserted
he → ’ → America
I’m sorry, Ken.
asserted
I → ’m → ?
He’ll never speak to me again but that’s OK.
asserted
that → speak → me
He spoke as if his big idea of changing “Democrats” to “Dumocrats” was a piece of marketing genius or political artistry worthy of Lee Atwater.
asserted
idea → speak → Atwater
(“Nobody knows that dumb has a B at the end of it – most people think it’s ‘D-U-M’”.)
asserted
it → know → it
Most reasonable people would look at him and think this poor elderly person is in need of an intervention.
asserted
person → look → intervention
But this audience, of course, lapped it up and encouraged him.
asserted
audience → lap → him
So he revelled in his name changes.
asserted
he → revel → changes
…and 28 more, not listed.
The Aporia
