Donald Trump’s latest antics on Truth Social reveal just how desperate he has become now that Joe Biden is no longer a factor in the 2024 presidential race. With Biden having stepped aside and endorsed Kamala Harris, Trump’s initial confidence has turned into outright panic, prompting him to desperately try to lure Biden back into the race.

Just weeks ago, Trump was riding high. He was leading in the polls, enjoying the Democrats’ infighting, and relishing the sight of Biden’s struggles. Trump even felt secure enough to pick an unpopular far-right running mate, Senator JD Vance, believing that the race was all but won.

But the dynamics changed dramatically when Biden announced he would not seek re-election, handing the Democratic ticket to Harris. This shift revitalized the Democrats and threw Trump into a tailspin of hysteria.

In a bizarre and pitiful display, Trump has been using Truth Social to call out for Biden’s return. On Thursday morning, he posted: “Kamala Harris wants NOTHING TO DO WITH CROOKED JOE BIDEN. They are throwing him out on the Monday Night Stage, known as Death Valley,” adding that Biden now “HATES Obama and Crazy Nancy more than he hates me! He is an angry man, as he should be. They stole the Presidency from him — ‘It was a Coup!’”

Political analysts are calling Trump’s behavior a public nervous breakdown. According to Matthew Bartlett, a GOP strategist and former Trump appointee, Trump is struggling to handle a competitive race, a far cry from the days when he breezed through the Republican primary and dominated debates. “This is a guy who cut through the Republican primary like a knife through butter, who pummeled a semi-conscious president in a debate, and now he can’t come to grips with a real contest,” Bartlett said.

Trump’s desperation has reached such absurd levels that he’s now trying to make a case for Biden to re-enter the race. Shortly after Harris announced Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as her running mate, Trump tweeted, “I HEAR THERE IS A BIG MOVEMENT TO ‘BRING BACK CROOKED JOE.’”

Despite the fact that Trump’s “I hear” statements often turn out to be unfounded fabrications, he followed up with a claim that Biden might “crash” the Democratic National Convention to reclaim the nomination. Trump declared, “He feels that he made a historically tragic mistake by handing over the U.S. Presidency, a COUP, to the people in the World he most hates, and he wants it back, NOW!!!”

It’s worth noting that Trump himself should avoid making accusations about “coups” given his own controversies. Moreover, there is no evidence suggesting that Biden has any intention of reversing his decision or that Harris is in any danger of losing the nomination.

Trump’s frantic attempts to revive Biden’s candidacy reveal more about his own state of mind than anything else. A confident candidate would not need to fabricate such absurd scenarios. Instead, Trump’s behavior reflects a candidate in a panic, clutching at straws in a desperate bid to return to the relative ease of the race he once dominated.

New York’s Jon Chait observes that Trump’s public outbursts often reflect a deeper, if misguided, logic. “Here Trump is doing neither,” Chait writes. “He is fantasizing that the opponent currently tormenting him, and whom he is afraid to debate, will somehow disappear and the opponent he was defeating will somehow return.”

Indeed, Trump’s attempts to coax Biden back into the race are a clear sign of his growing desperation, revealing just how unprepared he is to face Kamala Harris.