Trump held a big rally in New Jersey on Saturday (although it got smaller as he was speaking, see story here), and during his speech he gave a shout-out to his golfing buddy “O.J.” upon spotting him in the crowd (read story here).
Later in his speech, Trump mentioned “O.J.” again. It’s known Trump and Simpson once were friends, although it’s unclear from this story whether they ever golfed together, and it’s possible he saw another acquaintance, retired NFL player Ottis Jerome Simpson (profile here), who was in the crowd.
But, if so, why didn’t he call him “Ottis” or “Jerome”? why “O.J.”? does this Simpson go by the accused murderer’s nickname? You wouldn’t think so. (Sure the other O.J. Simpson was acquitted, but 95% of Americans think he’s guilty.)
If Trump did think he saw that O.J. Simpson (photo above) in the crowd, then he’s seeing ghosts, because Orenthal James Simpson met his maker on April 10, 2024 (per his bio here).
That, of course, doesn’t rule out Trump thinking he saw a dead man in the crowd, because as a wag pointed out on social media, “Trump is brain dead from dementia,” although a more generous assessment came from an apparent admirer who said, “Wow, Trump really is the messiah, he raised O.J. from the dead!” (Second link above.)
Whether Trump is a dead man walking, or sees walking dead men, or has resurrection powers, the immediate question is whether he can resurrect his political career when his own supporters are walking out on him.