This was an unusually and notably slow week of broken norms compared to recent months. The news cycle has slowed considerably. Two factors stand out that may contribute.

There remain lingering doubts about the state of Trump’s health after his most recent visit to Walter Reed, although our media is saying and reporting very little about it, as opposed to their daily and hourly obsession with former President Joseph Biden. The WSJ Editorial Board writes, as Trump nears his 80th birthday, “we hope no one is hiding any contradictory details” on his recent visit, adding, “One lesson from the Biden health fiasco is that voters will punish a party that tries to cover up infirmities.”

The second is Trump’s focus on his two personal priorities, his legacy and personal vendettas, as we pass the five month mark before midterms, where Democrats are likely to at least gain control of the House of Representatives and put a check on power. Trump cannot stop talking about his arch, his UFC arena, and of course his ballroom. He is obsessed with his legacy, while being openly callous towards the concerns of Americans on issues like affordability. He is also obsessed with rewriting history, targeting his enemies, and seeking to reward his supporters who back the Big Lie that the 2020 election was stolen from him. Towards that end, Trump and his allies were already sowing doubt this week about election results, as the vote count in California’s primary proceeded at its usual slow pace.

It is unclear whether Trump has so ensconced himself with loyalists that he does not comprehend his growing unpopularity, or if he simply has again constructed an alternative truth. This week, Trump was loudly booed in his home city at Madison Square Garden, but he claimed to have heard cheers. As his polling continue to fall, the Journal noted that Trump’s cultural influence is also waning. This week we are also continuing to see the real world impacts of the incompetent loyalists he installed to run our federal agencies, and the out in the open corruption and pay-to-play that have characterized this second regime, and benefited Trump, his family, and his allies.