For 48 hours, Donald Trump has been screaming that President Obama is the “founder of ISIS.” He started the refrain at his rallies, and continued it on every media outlet that allows the ferret-wearing faux billionaire on the air.
On nearly every venue, Trump was given the opportunity to step back from what he had said.
Asked about them, he doubled down and said "[Obama] was the founder of ISIS absolutely, the way he removed our troops. ... I call them co-founders," he added, referring to his Democratic presidential opponent, Hillary Clinton.
And when given another chance to back away he tripled down.
Trump: Well, I mean exactly that. He’s the founder of iSIS. They should give, you know, in athletics we get awards, they get awards. You’re the best player—the most valuable player. He should get the most valuable player award from ISIS.
And given another chance to step back he quadrupled down.
CNBC: Do you think it’s appropriate to call the sitting president of the United States the founder of a terrorist organization that wants to kill Americans?
Trump: He was the founder of ISIS. Absolutely. He was the founder, absolutely the founder. In fact, he gets … in sports they have awards … he gets the most valuable award. I mean. Him and Hillary. She gets it too. Is something wrong with saying that? What? Are people complaining that I’m saying that he was the founder of ISIS?
Obama was “absolutely” the founder of ISiS. Trump “meant exactly that.” And “Absolutely. He was the founder.”
And then, after going at this for two full days, Trump tossed out this …
No. It’s not CNN that doesn’t get sarcasm. It’s you, Mr. Trump. “Sarcasm” is not a Get Out of Any Statement Free card. Second Amendment solutions? Sarcasm! Russian hacking request? Sarcasm!
We can all hope that “I’m running for president” crack is also sarcasm. Because otherwise, we have a nominee that’s not just a cruel, racist, bully, but one who is a full on psychopath.
No. They can’t. Because the rest of us are living in the real world. The one where assassination, subverting an election, and encouraging violence are serious things.
Trump couldn’t find that world on a map.