Jennifer Rubin is a widely syndicated conservative columnist. Her “home” is the “Right Turn” segment at the Washington Post, but her column is picked up by many newspapers and media outlets nationwide. She has been one of the sharpest critics of Trump and this past week is no exception. She’s been busy tearing Donald three new ones, and high-profile and much-read people like her are the reason Donald’s support is eroding with many GOPers. Let’s look at some of what she has been writing about the Donald just from the last few days:
1. Trump can be both evil and nuts
WaPo:
Trump can be both evil and nuts
10.16.16
He’s turned into a crazed Bond villain -- or Bill Cosby.
Donald Trump, according to nine women and his own comments to Billy Bush, likes to grope women. He regularly insults women about their appearance and weight. He called deaf actress Marlee Matlin “retarded,” according to one account. He publicly bragged about his infidelity while still married to his children’s mother. He talks about a daughter in sick, sexualized ways. He has said more than once of pre-adolescent girls that he would be dating them in a few years. He wandered in on beauty contestants (including minors) while they were naked or changing.
Trump calls all these women liars, and has the audacity to say one accuser was not attractive enough to grope. (“Believe me, she would not be my first choice, that I can tell you,” he said at a North Carolina rally.) But of course this is not so much about sex as about sheer power.
Trump’s disgusting behavior — even if we look only at his recorded comments — is that of a pre-pubescent, one raised by wolves. His conduct and talk, one can suppose, are intended to make himself feel powerful and important. Treating women as chattel makes him feel masculine and in command.
His narcissism convinces him he is a suave operator and prevents him from considering the feelings of the women he attacks (physically and verbally).
Trump is both evil and nuts, and Jennifer Rubin lashes into Trump for his bizarre behavior patterns that leave decent people aghast and shocked, but it does not phase the Donald. His narcissism won’t allow it.
More Rubin:
Jennifer Rubin: Does it matter if Trump really is crazy?
It matters not at all whether there is some diagnosable problem with Trump or whether he is simply evil.
Trump, we have come to see, operates in his own world in which he is the “best” and in which everyone else is inferior. He spews made up facts and clings to irrational assertions. Frankly, it does not take much to get from the lie that “Mexicans are pouring over the border” to the insane claim there is a worldwide conspiracy against him.
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Donald Trump made that unfortunate leap just a few days ago, and with it he comes off more unhinged than ever:
NYT:
Trump's comments linked to anti-semitism
“Hillary Clinton meets in secret with international banks to plot the destruction of U.S. sovereignty in order to enrich these global financial powers, her special interest friends and her donors,” he said.
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Jonathan Greenblatt, the chief executive of the Anti-Defamation League, retorted:
“Whether intentionally or not, Donald Trump is evoking classic anti-Semitic themes that have historically been used against Jews and still reverberate today,”
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You better believe it was intentional, Mr. Greenblatt.
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Other observers weren’t as guarded:
Ok, back to Jennifer Rubin’s remarks:
“They knew they would throw every lie they could at me and my family and my loved ones,” said Trump at a rally in West Palm Beach, Fla. “They knew they would stop at nothing to try to stop me. But I never knew, as bad as it would be, I never knew it would be this vile, that it would be this bad, that it would be this vicious.”
The only thing missing is Marvel movies’ notorious stealth organization Hydra.
We can only hope he repeats his lunacy at the debate — and Hillary Clinton, the audience and moderator laugh at him. He is laughable, or pathetic, depending on your view.
Trump already is claiming the election was rigged. We anticipate he will refuse to concede, melt down in one public appearance after another and try his hardest to keep the media attention on him. Unfortunately for him, he has become a creepy old man — and his act was stale weeks ago.
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Another Jennifer Rubin column:
2. Clinton has closed the deal, but the final debate still matters
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WaPo:
Clinton has closed the deal, but the final debate still matters
10.14.16
The third presidential debate is scheduled for Las Vegas on Wednesday. Given that he could not manage an appearance on Sean Hannity’s show earlier this week, it is far from clear that he will show up to get grilled by Fox News’s Chris Wallace and challenged by Hillary Clinton. It is not as if there is much upside for Trump. Each debate has been followed by a disastrous run during which Trump digs himself a deeper hole, manifesting his lack of emotional stability.
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Rubin wonders whether Trump will even show up for the final debate, given how badly the last 2 went, not just at the debate itself but in the immediate aftermath.
We cannot even offer suggestions for the debate along the lines of “What Trump must do.” There is virtually nothing he can do at this point to avert electoral disaster. Too many votes will have already been cast, and too many people have already made up their minds. Moreover, we can expect another drop-off in viewership, just as there was from the first to the second debate. People are willing to put themselves through only so much of the horror show. Likewise, we are hard-pressed to think of “What Clinton must do to close the deal.” It’s closed. Only her margin of victory is in doubt. Provided she doesn’t collapse on stage and start speaking in tongues, she can cruise to victory less than three weeks after the final debate.
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The deal is closed. Trump’s fate is sealed.
In this column Rubin goes on to state that Hillary has a choice to make for the final debate: Go after Republicans’ jugulars by calling them obstructionist, unreasonable and ill-tempered, or talk in terms of being the President for “all Americans”, and that she’ll work well with Republicans in Congress. The latter might bring Arizona, Georgia and the Carolinas.
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Rubin closes:
Clinton should be content with an uneventful final debate. She need not crush Trump on Wednesday; she already has pulverized him.
3. Americans really hate Trump
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WaPo:
Americans really hate Trump
10.14.16
The longer he tries to sell himself to the masses, the less they like him.
Donald Trump continually says things like “The Hispanics love me!” or “I’m doing great with women!” These phrases are reflective of his deep well of neediness and his self-delusion that polls are all wrong. It’s pathetic, and those advisers and family members who are egging him on so that they can stay on the campaign payroll and/or in his good graces do the country a great disservice.
Just how much do Americans hate Trump? Let’s go with the Fox News poll where Hillary Clinton is winning by 7 points in a four-way race (approaching 50 percent):
In the four-way race, Clinton is favored among non-whites (+62 points), suburban women (+24), women (+19), and voters under 30 (+16). Third party candidates hurt her among younger voters, as about one in four of them go for Johnson or Stein.
Trump’s the pick for men (+5 points), whites (+14), and whites without a college degree (+25).
We have no way of knowing whether Trump has hit rock bottom. It is hard to see how he makes up lost ground so long as his unfavorable ratings remain high, especially among those groups he claims love him:
Rubin goes on to cite that Trump’s favorable/unfavorable rating stands at a negative 23% (38 favorable vs. 61% unfavorable,) and that his favorable rating among Republicans has dropped 11% (from 84% to 73%.) She lists his very high unfavorables with women (66%), nonwhites (85%) and voters younger than 35 years of age (65%) as stunning. She also stated that even groups he does comparatively well with don’t like him, that his unfavorables with men (56%) and with those making less than $50,000 (66%) are terrible.
As for his personal attributes:
Overall, 64 percent believe Clinton has the right temperament to serve effectively and 68 percent say she’s qualified to be president.
It’s the opposite for Trump, as 63 percent think he lacks the temperament and 56 percent say he isn’t qualified. For 49 percent, he is “not at all” qualified.
Are the candidates good role models for children? Voters say Clinton is (54 yes vs. 43 no). And Trump is not (20 yes vs. 77 no).
Rubin questioned Trump’s salesmanship, supposedly his real talent, as he can’t sell himself to the masses. She said “The longer he tries, the less they like him.”
He will, however, cement in people’s minds a thoroughly negative view of himself — creepy, mean, vulgar, etc. It’s no way to sell chewy steaks and $800-a-night hotel rooms.
Jennifer Rubin gives Trump this devastating postmortem:
After he loses, Trump surely will rail about a rigged election and GOP betrayal. That won’t change his post-election reality: He is going to lose to Clinton in a lopsided defeat and have to live without campaign rallies and constant media attention. His properties will be less attractive as customers (women in particular) decide that they want nothing to do with his brand. His business acumen is no longer admired, his business advice hardly worth considering. He’ll be treated like a loser and a has-been. That will infuriate him most of all.
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Damn. Jennifer Rubin is a well known and well established conservative columnist, a Republican, but throughout this season she has written some of the most devastating columns against Trump I have seen from anyone. As such she is doing a great service for Hillary and the country, because she has a large following among conservatives and moderate Republicans and her columns against Trump carry some weight with Republicans, more so than anything a liberal columnist would be able to accomplish in terms of opening some eyes to the truth about this nasty, misogynistic, fascist, evil man.