In fact, the former president has been taking the same line almost verbatim since early September — when he first noticed the large and excited crowds that Harris brought out.

In August, Trump went so far as to claim that people were using “artificial intelligence” to create the impression that large crowds were showing up to the vice president’s campaign events. He added at the time that images showing her audience were “fake.”

What I find amazing about all of this is how pathetic it is. Trump’s ego can’t stand the thought of his opponent having enthusiastic supporters, so he apparently calms himself with some kind of conspiracy theory: Harris and her team must pay fake supporters to attend their events because the alternative is so many Americans like them really and wants her to win.

Furthermore, this doesn’t just apply to the 2024 election. When the then-candidate sparked protests in early June 2016, Trump assumed that the people involved couldn’t possibly reject him. They were, the Republican said at the time, “paid agitators.”

After the Republican candidate prevailed on Election Day 2016, there was corresponding anti-Trump activism. Those involved, he said in November 2016, were “paid protesters.”

Months later, after the Republican inauguration, the activism continued. Trump once again assured the public that these Americans deserved to be ignored – assuming they were “paid protesters.”

The following year, Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination to the Supreme Court sparked another round of progressive activism. Trump emphasized that the demonstrators were “paid professionals.”

That was in October 2018. He’s back at it in October 2024 and assumes the Harris campaign is paying people to show up to their events.

The problem isn’t just that Trump views Americans with whom he disagrees as an “enemy within.” The problem is also compounded by the fact that he often sees Americans with whom he disagrees as an impossibility this can only be explained by corrupt plans that only exist in his mind.