To prepare a bull for a traditional Spanish bullfight, trainers have been known to smear Vaseline in its eyes, shove wet newspaper up its nose and jab its testicles with needles.

No one had to abuse President Trump before the debate Tuesday. Riled is his natural state. But he did come off like a wounded bull, weakened and disoriented, in the throes of a neural storm he seemed to hope would come off as ferocity. The performance was degrading and sinister in equal measure.

In response, Democratic nominee Joe Biden played less a matador than a Humane Society rep. He’s not a killer. Instead, he shook his head and laughed sadly at the bullyboy. He also pleaded with voters, more in sorrow than in anger, to make Trump’s protracted dance of death stop.

To no one’s surprise, Trump could not be stopped on Tuesday. He snarled, bellowed and pawed the earth, and when that wasn’t working, he did something genuinely chilling. He called out for Nazi reinforcements.