First it was those cringe-worthy, self-congratulatory tweets from Donald Trump. Then of course it was being plain wrong about the facts of the tragedy. And then we had his accusations about President Obama. We begin today’s roundup with a scathing editorial from The Los Angeles Times about Trump’s accusations:
Donald J. Trump, the loose cannon who would be president, hinted Monday that President Obama might be complicit in terror attacks by Islamic extremists, including Sunday’s bloodbath in Orlando, Fla. That accusation by innuendo marks a new and repugnant low for Trump, who along with his surrogates is engaged in a smear campaign reminiscent of the dark days of McCarthyism. [...]
We’ve said before that Trump’s shoot-from-the-lip persona makes him unsuited for the presidency, and we’ll keep saying it right up until the election, when we hope he fades from the national stage and takes his repugnant intolerance with him. Yet we also fear his campaign has given currency to dangerously wrong ideas about race, religion and proper conduct of a civil society. More reasonable minds recognize those ideas as intellectually and morally bankrupt, and they should recognize the boastful messenger for what he is.
The Washington Post takes apart Trump’s response to the attack and his speech on terrorism, condemning Trump’s “assault on our values”:
Mr. Trump capped a day of assaulting fundamental liberal democratic values by announcing he would ban Post reporters from covering his campaign events. If this is his inclination now, imagine how he might wield the powers of the presidency.
Before the Orlando shooting, Beltway analysts speculated about how a terrorist attack might affect the presidential election. Now we know at least part of the answer: Mr. Trump would reveal himself more clearly than ever as a man unfit to lead.
Sarah Wheaton at POLITICO highlights the administration’s response to Trump’s insane claims:
When asked about the president’s reaction to Trump’s charge that, when it comes to terrorism, Obama “doesn't get it or he gets it better than anybody understands,” his spokesman opted for a rhetorical eye-roll. “It's important not to get distracted by things that are so small,” White House press secretary Josh Earnest said. [...]
Zing!
And during the White House briefing Earnest repeatedly refused to engage on questions about Obama’s response to Trump’s attacks, only delivering a cutting line that Obama’s record “speaks for itself.”
“And that record includes a lot of dead terrorists,” he said.
Trump, for his part, is throwing a tantrum over the press daring to actually report on his claims about Obama. He revoked the press credentials of The Washington Post and other news organizations. Kelsey Sutton at POLITICO runs down all of the reports of journalists being kicked out of or prohibited from reporting at Trump events:
But The Post is the latest of more than a dozen publications that Trump has banned from attending his campaign events — although this is one of only a few bans Trump has explicitly announced. The bans over the months have targeted legacy organizations, broadcast news outlets and digital publications alike — and many have been in response to articles or editorials in those publications that reflect poorly upon the presidential candidate. [...]
Joseph Russomanno, associate professor in ASU’s Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication:
We won’t be able to say we didn’t see it coming. Candidate Donald Trump is making it very clear what certain aspects of a Trump presidency would look like. One of those aspects is speech and press freedom — or, that is, his attempts to dismantle those parts of our First Amendment.
Like the schoolyard bully who can’t control everything in his fiefdom, Trump throws a tantrum when the same media he often manipulates to his advantage suddenly doesn’t bow to his wishes.
Chris Cillizza on Trump’s press bans:
This should worry you. And by "you," I mean everyone who is a citizen of the United States.
Olivia Nuzzi and Tim Mak dive into all the lies in Trump’s speech on terrorism (and boy, were there plenty):
This is presidential Donald Trump, which means he’s still spouting off a lie a minute, but he’s doing so in a cool and collected manner. [...]
“When I am President,” he said. “America will be a tolerant and open society.”
He then said that, in fact, America will be neither tolerant or open. [...] Trump managed to contradict himself at different points in his own speech.
Tim Dickinson at Rolling Stone says that Trump’s response to the Orlando attack disqualifies him from being president:
Here's what's really going on, America: Donald Trump has shown us, in the wake of a hate crime, an act of terror and a national tragedy that his vision as a leader is clouded by narcissism and wingnuttery. And either one is unacceptable in the Oval Office.E
And here’s Dana Milbank’s take at The Washington Post:
How long will it be before American Muslims are forced to wear yellow badges with the star and crescent? Donald Trump, the man Republicans will nominate to be president, has already said that, in addition to banning Muslim immigration, he would also look at closing mosques and forcing Muslims already in the country to register with the authorities. [...] He does deserve congratulations — for a new wave of radicalization. Trump’s anti-Muslim hostility makes it easier for terrorists to recruit and to inspire disaffected young Muslims. Trump warned Monday that the terrorism seen in Orlando “is going to get worse and worse” — and, thanks to him, that’s probably true.
We end today’s roundup with Emma Roller at The New York Times:
As in almost any policy area, comparing Hillary Clinton’s platform with Donald Trump’s is like comparing a dissertation on naval strategy to a game of Battleship. [...]
Watching Mr. Trump speak, I got the sense that he doesn’t understand the consequences his words can have — that his fear stoking has led his supporters to harass a 56-year-old Muslim woman, or to beat a homeless man with a metal pipe and urinate on him, or to bully students for being children of immigrants.
But the even scarier thought is that he knows exactly what he’s doing.
