Republished with permission from Lucian K. Truscott IV

Let me just say, Trump’s so-called “press conference” in Bedminster, New Jersey, was very, very hard to get through. I made it to the hour and fifteen-minute mark, and then my head jerked up from my chest. I had fallen asleep.

Flanked by stacks of foodstuffs with prices affixed, intended to give a visual image of inflation, Trump gestured to the collection only once when he noticed a box of Cheerios and said, “I haven’t seen Cheerios in a long time, I’m going to take them back to my cottage.”

He droned on and on, like the Energizer Bunny hitting his little drum over and over…

I spoke to Mullah and for 18 months, not a single American soldier died in Afghanistan…thump-thump…

I think I’m doing a very calm campaign, some of you will say, ‘He ranted and raved,’ I’m a very calm person, believe it or not…thump-thump…

Did you know you can rob a store in California as long as what you take is less than $950? There are thieves walking in with calculators, adding up what they steal…thump-thump…

She let 20 million of them across the border, they’re giving them Social Security cards and work permits, and they’re taking everyone’s jobs.

Virtually 100 percent of the net job creation in the last year has gone to migrants, it was actually beyond that number, 100 percent…thump-thump…he signed a bill that all boys bathrooms in Minnesota will have tampons, can you imagine?…thump-thump…

I won Pennsylvania and I did much better the second time, I won it in 2016, did much better the second time. I know Pennsylvania very well…thump-thump…

I think I’m entitled to personal attacks, I don’t have a lot of respect for her, I don’t have a lot of respect for her intelligence, and I think she’ll be a terrible president…thump-thump…

People don’t know who she is. You can ask the man on the street, what’s the last name of Kamala?’ Nobody knew…thump-thump…

I tend to poll low, in some cases, really low…thump-thump…

I couldn’t copy down the lies and exaggerations fast enough to keep up, and news organizations such as the New York Times and Washington Post in their summations simply quoted a few, while noting that Trump didn’t begin taking questions until he rambled extemporaneously for 45 minutes, occasionally consulting notes in a briefing book on the lectern in front of him.

The press conference was held outside, in front of the club’s main entrance. There was a clutch of Bedminster golf club members off to one side who chimed in once in awhile with cheers and shouts of “MAGA.” Trump seemed strangely desultory, punctuating the barrage of lies with that trademark movement of his hands from side to side, reaching down occasionally to turn another page of his briefing book.

It was the second time Trump has called a press conference in a week. He appears to be attempting to reclaim at least a snatch of the campaign narrative that Vice President Harris has held since the day after President Biden suspended his campaign just over three weeks ago.

CNN showed the first 30 minutes of Trump’s endless recitation of lies, and then cut away to Wolf Blitzer, who showed up in the dark in some unidentified foreign country. MSNBC showed a moment or two of Trump speaking in split screen with political commentators talking but did not include audio of what Trump said.

Just as well. It was just another ad for the Energizer Bunny of lies.