Maggie Haberman, the legendary NYT reporter with near-unfettered access to Donald Trump, dropped a bomb yesterday. During an interview with CNN anchor Kaitlan Collins, Haberman told the host that Trump’s efforts to paint Biden as a washout after his recent debate performance against the former president had seemed to backfire.

Trump, who just turned 78, “doesn’t like being out of the news cycle” and “just wants the narrative to be back on him,” said Haberman.

But the “liberal” media has been abuzz with talk about Joe’s mental fitness and whether that had anything to do with a debate performance that he has since made look like a total aberration by making successful and hopeful appearances since that night.

There was talk of Biden dropping out of the race, with Trump even telling fans on a golf course that “they” were “about to announce” that Biden was leaving.

But the president’s aides seem to have made their case quite well that Biden was just having an off night. It may have been the worst timing for him to have one, but we all have them.

Collins told Haberman that just moments before their interview, Trump — after what seemed like days of radio silence — had called in to Fox News and answered questions about the debate.

“Donald Trump though seemed to be holding his fire to a degree, not giving any kind of full-throated blistering takedown when he was given this ample opportunity. And instead, knocking Biden for what he claimed was his pale appearance and weak voice.”

But Haberman was quick with her response:

“Biden’s clearly saying that he’s not going to step aside, and let somebody else be the nominee, or endorse someone else being the nominee. So, I think that that makes [Trump] emboldened. I will say, Kaitlan, he hasn’t been that quiet. If you look at Truth Social, and you look at his feed, which doesn’t get a whole lot of coverage, he has been quite, quite, quite active there, saying all kinds of things, including posting an old video clip, of him telling Hillary Clinton, during their debate that she would be in jail if he was running the country.

I think that he just wants the narrative to be back on him. And I think that he’s feeling better about the idea that the race is going to be him versus Biden.”

That sense of security in his position, and especially his talk of retribution, feeds right back into our story about whether he might just ditch Melania if he wins the election, not needing her anymore.

In fact, I doubt he even dislikes that media coverage. All coverage is coverage for a media hound (you know what word I wanted to use there) like Trump.

Maggie Haberman Says Trump Itching For Attention During Biden Debate Crisis Cycle: 'Wants The Narrative Back On Him' https://t.co/87yHQAcpmU via @mediaite pic.twitter.com/pBJYBTCCKQ

— Tommy moderna-vaX-Topher (@tommyxtopher) July 9, 2024