Scared Trump defaults to "bully-mode"

When Trump is scared, he enters "bully-mode."

The bully Donald Trump, as usual, is desperately plotting
to save his own skin

There are three facets of Trump's bully-mode (all intended to build himself up in times of insecurity, while tearing others down):

1) He personally disparages his opponent.

2) He intimates conspiracy theories against them.

3) He threatens others, attempting to challenge events that would serve to label him a loser--such as in his seemingly innumerable court cases or the January 6 certification of electoral votes. 

Usually, Trump employs just one of these strategies. At rare times, when he feels especially threatened, he uses all three.

And, right now, he is absolutely terrified of Nikki Haley--or, perhaps more precisely, the challenge she represents to his self-perceived mantle of invincibility.

But, wait...Nikki Haley? Trump destroyed her in the Iowa Caucuses and then kept her from taking New Hampshire. So, why in the world would anyone think that Trump is scared?

Simple: bully-mode.

When Trump soundly trounced his Iowa competition (by about 30%), he responded with a firmly-secure-in-his-position (albeit uncharacteristically gracious) victory speech:

"I really think this is the time for everybody, our country, to come together. We want to come together whether it's Republican or Democrat or liberal or conservative."

Eight days later in NH, Trump bested Haley by not even eleven points--despite a boost from recently-jilted DeSantis voters joining Team Trump.

Trump's NH speech wasn't nearly as gracious.

It was all-out bully-mode.

Trump spent his entire speech, as Haley's campaign later noted, "ranting and raving" about the opponent he had just vanquished. And that's extremely telling.

1) He disparaged her by making fun of what she was wearing, "I watch her in that fancy dress--that probably wasn't so fancy."

2) He planted a conspiracy about Haley being shady: "She's not going to win, but if she did, she's going to be under investigation...in 15 minutes. I could tell you five reasons why already."

3) His threat here is two-fold: 1) to Haley, upset with her positivity in finishing a relatively close second: "I don't get too angry, I get even."; 2) to ALL GOP donors--the loss of which would severely harm his chances to win the general election: "Anybody that makes a 'contribution' to Birdbrain (Note: Trump's current derogatory nickname for Haley), from this moment forth, will be permanently barred from the MAGA camp."

Because he's terrified.

He's terrified that there may be a perception that he is vulnerable. He is terrified that his iron grip on the GOP may slip--and thus, too, the fealty of his minions in Congress.  He's terrified that his rabid MAGA base may not be enough to win him the general election if he can barely muster 50% in a two-person GOP primary.

And he's terrified that if he can't win the general election, all of his criminal charges will rightfully catch up with him, and he won't be able to shut down investigations or try to grant himself a pardon.

And that terrifies him most of all.

So, get used to Trump's bully-mode.

There's a lot more of it to come.