So I’ve been watching Donald Trump’s latest train wreck. He called on his followers to assassinate his opponent. Sure, his surrogates have walked it back saying, “Never mind what he actually said. Of course he didn’t mean it! He was calling for ‘unity!’ He was calling on people to vote!”
Then, right on cue, they said that the American people are asking too much of The Donald. We’re being too demanding. Someone said, “You want him to have a Ph.D. in grammar, fergoshsakes!” [A degree which, by the way is not on the curriculum of any reputable university (though I imagine it would be made available at Trump U if someone asked.)] People are expected to have a modicum of understanding of the discipline by the time they reach college. But not the one who holds the most powerful position on earth, apparently.
So now the message is, “We should cut Donald Trump some slack because he doesn’t know how to talk in front of people.”
Well, I’ve been listening to the round-table discussions today and people have been livid at what he said. They have called him out. They have excoriated him — and rightfully so. They have said that he is now avoiding the question and allowing others to speak for him when the correct response is to admit that he blew it [genetic impossibility #1 for Trump] and apologize [impossibility # 2.]
But here’s my question. I have yet to hear one political pundit [definition: “an expert in a particular subject or field who is frequently called on to give opinions about it to the public”] come back with the one glaringly obvious response to the people who say, “The American people are asking too much of Trump. He’s not a politician. He doesn’t understand how to talk in public. So it’s up to the people to give him a break.”
Here is that response: “OK, let’s assume the American people back off. Let’s say they cut him some slack. Let’s say, by some miracle, he becomes president of the United States of America.
“And then let’s say that one of the duties of the President is to talk with foreign leaders. Will they cut him the same slack that is expected of us?
“When Donald Trump says [as he has in the past] that NATO should be a pay-to-play organization [“That’s a nice country you’ve got there. Be a shame if something were to happen to it,”] will they chalk it up to inexperience?
“When he threatens to attack a country which is not, currently, an active enemy but not a friend, either — say one that has a nuclear program, for instance — will the nation’s leader give him the same benefit of the doubt that is being asked of the Americans? When his spokespeople jump up and say, ‘Hey! He didn’t mean it!’ will they listen?”
Not one word have I heard about the international implications of a President who doesn’t know how to speak in public — nor how to hold his tongue. Not one.