After a nearly six-month absence, former President Donald Trump returned to the rally stage, and it was his first large public gathering since his fateful “Save America” event on Jan.6 that spurred the deadly riot at the Capitol, The New York Times reports.

As he took the stage Saturday in Wellington, Ohio, that same phrase — “Save America” — appeared behind him while he addressed the audience of several thousand. As you might expect, he once again sounded like a broken record, spreading misinformation and complaining about the “fraudulent” 2020 election and attacking those Republicans who refused to support his efforts to overturn the election. This list includes Ohio Rep. Anthony E. Gonzalez, who voted to impeach Trump and whose primary challenger, Max Miller, was Trump’s main reason for being there. Indeed, Trump heaped praise on Miller when the two appeared on stage together.

Swathes of GOP lawmakers keep aping Trump’s lies about the stolen election, remaining fearful of crossing him. Of course, this means he still maintains the status of being the most powerful figure in the Republican Party and many GOPers are waiting to see if he’ll run again in 2024.

But one thing was plainly clear while Trump appeared on stage — politically, his stature is diminishing post-presidency, and this has forced him to rely on a small group of allies and supporters — those who continue to believe his lies about the stolen election. This includes QAnon enthusiast Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), someone who’s about as disconnected from reality as you can get.

The NYT reports that while Trump received plenty of adulation during his nearly 90-minute speech, there were times when it fell quite flat. People grew restless as he bounced from one topic to another — Israel, Nancy Pelosi’s COVID mask, and immigration leading many audience members to leave early.

“Do you miss me?” Trump said at one point and was awarded with thunderous applause. “They miss me.”

When some in the audience were interviewed they expressed strong support for Trump’s election lies and were more than willing to rewrite history regarding the Capitol insurrection.

One man who owns a small business in Michigan attended the Jan. 6 Capitol rally with his daughter, said the event was “mostly peaceful.”

“People were praying. People were singing,” said Tony Buscemi. He told the NYT he might have gone inside the Capitol building as well but his daughter convinced him it was a bad idea. “There was no insurrection. I didn’t see anything wrong with it.”

Polling indicates many Republicans are still skeptical that Biden won fairly and squarely. In a Monmouth University Poll, 36 percent of Republicans said Biden had won fairly, while 57 percent said the election was fraudulent.

There’s still plenty of evidence, however, to show that Trump’s influence over GOP voters is waning. An NBC News Poll, conducted in late April, found that 44 percent of Republicans and GOP-influenced Independents were more supportive of Trump than they were of the Republican Party. But 50 percent said they were more supportive of the Party than they were of Trump.

This was a striking change because it was the first time since 2019 when pollsters began asking the question that as many as half of Republican voters said they supported their party over Trump.

So Trump may be becoming the incredible shrinking man. Still, the question remains: Will Trump’s influence propel him to run in 2024?

The fact that so many of his faithful supporters were happy to leave before he wrapped up his speech may be an indication that even the foolhardy are tiring of him.

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