Was he really suffering from flu recently or had he checked into a mental health institution in another state?
asserted
he → suffer → state
Republicans in the state of Texas have asked all these questions – and plenty more – of the Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico.
asserted
Republicans → ask → candidate
They have showered the state with adverts, spending an eye- watering $175million in the process.
asserted
They → shower → process
It's relentless and each single insinuation, in spite of all of them being entirely false, might have been enough to see poor Mr Talarico off.
uncertain
all → see → Talarico
The vegan allegation in particular: Texans love beef and are suspicious of vegetables as a food category.
asserted
Texans → love → category
Why is the Democratic candidate in Kansas – rural, Trump-supporting Kansas – also looking strong?
asserted
candidate → support → Kansas
In Iowa, where Trump won by 13 points two years ago, the widest margin of any presidential candidate since 1972, the polls say it is now a close
Senate race.
asserted
it → win → 1972
I could go on.
uncertain
I → go → ?
The man seemed unstoppable.
asserted
man → seem → ?
He appeared never to sleep, firing people in the middle of the night, signing executive orders with a Sharpie that he'd chuck into an adoring crowd.
asserted
he → appear → crowd
Even Democrat-supporting friends of mine in the city seemed somehow relieved.
asserted
friends → support → city
Their own party would get a kick up the backside and if Trump could end illegal immigration, reduce inflation and combat woke universities, hey, maybe it's not all bad?
uncertain
it → get → universities
Republicans, including in the state of Texas, could be secretly voting Democrat in midterm elections (Pictured: US President Donald Trump after he casts his ballot in the 2026 midterm elections)
uncertain
he → include → elections
Racial minorities, worshipped by white Democrats, seemed to like him and in the case of Latinos had voted for him in record numbers.
Turns out, as the Texans say, he was all hat and no cattle.
asserted
he → worship → numbers
True he has effectively closed the border but he followed it up with an unpopular and occasionally violent crackdown on immigrants living blameless lives inside the US.
asserted
he → close → US
On inflation he has failed and on fuel prices, because of the Iran war, he has failed spectacularly.
asserted
he → fail → war
Latinos have cooled on Trump.
asserted
Latinos → cool → Trump
As have many rural Americans – former Trump supporters who drive diesel trucks.
asserted
who → have → trucks
In a world dominated by large cars and hard work, high diesel and petrol prices are not just a nuisance: they govern how a family feels about life.
Push fuel prices too high and a man might even vote for an alleged vegan.
In his extraordinary political career, Donald Trump has faced many a calamity, including the threat of jail, but this is his biggest crisis.
Early voting has started, with the actual polling day coming a week on Tuesday.
uncertain
day → dominate → Tuesday
And the possibility looms that he loses control of both houses of Congress.
asserted
he → loom → Congress
During the 2022 midterms, I remember telling rather surprised BBC interviewers that the result – a much better one for Joe Biden's Democrats than was predicted – was actually a potential disaster for them.
asserted
result → remember → them
It would convince the elderly president to campaign for a second term.
asserted
It → convince → term
And I was right: I still think that if the Democrats had done badly they would have ditched him and found a way better candidate.
asserted
they → think → candidate
They could have seen Trump off in 2024.
uncertain
They → see → 2024
Some Republicans have admitted to voting for a Democrat, endorsing James Talarico to represent Texas in the US Senate
Once again, it seems to me that victory could lead, quite quickly, to defeat.
uncertain
victory → admit → defeat
Imagine the scene: the Democrats take both houses of Congress.
asserted
Democrats → imagine → Congress
Not only does moderate Mr Talarico win in Texas but so does Abdul El-Sayed in Michigan.
asserted
Sayed → win → Michigan
And he would suddenly be the face of the national party, not confined to a city like Mamdani.
asserted
he → confine → Mamdani
This will do the party no favours as it tries to disabuse voters of its image as obsessively woke.
asserted
it → do → image
El-Sayed, to be clear, is an able politician and has huge support particularly among the young.
asserted
Sayed → have → young
But he and his ilk would be looking to out-Trump Trump.
asserted
he → look → Trump
They would want to destroy him as he has sought to destroy his opponents.
asserted
he → want → opponents
They would try to impeach him again.
asserted
They → try → him
This means Congressional hearings.
asserted
This → mean → hearings
It means time spent chasing down evidence of wrongdoing.
asserted
It → mean → wrongdoing
And in the
Senate, where two-thirds must vote to convict and remove him from office, it would almost certainly fail.
asserted
it → vote → office
That will not stop them raking over wrongdoing that many Americans might want to put behind them.
uncertain
Americans → stop → them
It would become a sore when the country is looking for balm.
asserted
country → become → balm
And the Democrats would become a party of past grievances rather than forward-looking optimism.
asserted
Democrats → become → optimism
And then El-Sayed and his friends would press for a radical presidential candidate in the 2028 campaign and all that new-found support the party has in places like Kansas and Iowa might fade rather fast.
uncertain
party → press → Kansas
…and 14 more, not listed.
The Aporia
