When we sat down with the master of televised mayhem to discuss the Jerry Springer-ification of this election, we never contemplated the possibility that Donald Trump would treat this profoundly depressing analogy as a source of good ideas. And yet, that is (we assume) exactly what happened today, as the Trump campaign announced that the GOP nominee's guest of honor at tomorrow's third-and-mercifully-final presidential debate will be President Obama's estranged half-brother, Malik. Wait, what?

Malik Obama is quite a character. A former Kenyan political candidate who has an undisclosed number of wives and counted ousted Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi among his "best friends," Malik has taken to telling to anyone that will listen that he supports Trump in November's election. And apparently, he may be [dramatic drumroll] ONLY THE BEGINNING:

This is not the first time that Donald Trump has exploited his debate guests by using them as pawns in a gross game of psychological warfare. Remember, when Trump invited the Clinton accusers to the last debate, debate officials nixed at the last minute his truly repulsive plan to seat those women with his family so that, before the debate began, Bill Clinton and the rest of Hillary's family would be forced to shake hands with them. But the Clinton accuser sideshow, disgusting though it was, at least had a rational relationship to Trump's opponent. It's a little harder to figure out what he hopes to accomplish by calling down a distant family member of someone who is unrelated to anyone on the debate stage. If and when Trump brings him up, it seems like "Hey, uh, I don't know anything about that guy" could be Clinton's perfectly legitimate retort.

Then again, maybe the easiest explanation is that here is no plan, really. Malik has nothing to do with anything, but who cares? DRAMA! This is the exact kind of nonsensical stunt that you would expect from an intellectually bankrupt candidate with neither a moral compass nor tenable policy positions who, a full three weeks before Election Day, has already started laying the groundwork for his impending shellacking. Trump has nothing new to share with prospective voters tomorrow night. In fact, dude ran out of ideas months ago. At this point, he is just trying to run out the ol' clock by doing the only thing he's ever managed to do successfully: make the event du jour a wild, zany, unpredictable spectacle, revel in the inherent seediness of on-screen family dysfunction, and hope that showmanship tops substance.

Given that Donald Trump is a thrice-married philanderer, I suppose it's only fitting he has managed to turn a presidential election into a daytime talk show extravaganza. Tomorrow is going to be gross, and, as with any Springer episode, we'll all be stuck watching in rapt horror.