The Trump Show Enters Its Darkest, Grimmest Episode Yet

History is repeating itself.

“When you’re a star, they let you do it. You can do anything. Grab ’em by the pussy.”

In October 2016, it was the leaked recording heard ’round the world: Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump bragging about sexual assault while “Access Hollywood” host Billy Bush guffawed beside him, two men joshing on a hot mic while riding around on a tour bus.

That searing image was supposed to bring Trump down. Surely, as many of us thought at the time, it would end his campaign, expose him for the dangerous fraud he was. But it didn’t. Enough voters bought a different image of him. It was an image — or rather, a mirage — Trump had been cultivating for decades: the role of the successful, competent businessman. He played that role in tacky cameos in “Home Alone 2” and “Sex and the City,” in bizarre McDonald’s and Pizza Hut commercials, and at the apex of his fame, as the star of his reality show, “The Apprentice.”

He kept performing that role through dozens of campaign rallies in 2015 and 2016 while spewing lies, conspiracy theories and all kinds of offensive comments about marginalized people. On those stages, which gave him countless hours of free airtime, he relished the glare of the spotlight and the ample opportunity to be a showman.

Eight years later, that same penchant for performance and obsession with image looked like it could finally bring Trump down. Maybe Americans could finally turn off the Trump channel. Yet enough voters still bought that image — and, as of Wednesday morning, likely more voters than in 2016 — even when presented with all evidence to the contrary.