We’re only a few days into The Softening, a period in which Donald Trump has apparently decided that everything he ran on in the primary was a bad idea—which is true—and that in addition to casually shooting people in the street, he can tell his followers that he’s been lying to them for the last year on the campaign’s central issue and still command their glassy-eyed loyalty. Because Trump followers know that what he's actually saying doesn’t mean anything.
And besides, it now appears that Trump has decided to put his softened policy back in the freezer.
Donald Trump on Thursday appeared to shift back to some version of the hard-line immigration posture he adopted in the GOP primaries, telling CNN that he does not support a path to legal status for illegal immigrants unless they leave the country and return legally.
Possibly because even for people whose brains were being squeezed by a foreign-made "Make America Great Again" cap, this wasn't playing well.
By wavering on the key issue of immigration, he runs the risk of alienating some of his most devoted supporters, who never thought of him as a waffler before. By considering a "softening" of his position, Republicans strategists say, he could cause many of these die-hard followers to conclude he has betrayed them and is just another politician.
So, Donald Trump says deport them all. Confusion over. Now we can move on to ...
Republican National Committee Chair Reince Priebus on Thursday expressed optimism about the potential for Donald Trump to back away from his initial campaign proposal to deport all undocumented immigrants.
How anyone could have optimism about anything to do with Trump … but wait, last minute update.
Obviously, immigration policy was completely not a thing before Trump. But it’s good to know it will be solved. No actual policy needed. This isn’t confusing at all.
Friday, Aug 26, 2016 · 4:54:39 PM +00:00 · Mark Sumner
How could I not include this.
"If Mr. Trump were to go down a path of wishy-washy positions taken on things that the core foundation of his support has so appreciated, and that is respecting our Constitution and respecting law and order in America, then, yeah, there would be a massive disappointment," Palin said, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Donald Trump has made me long for the detailed and highly reasoned positions of Sarah Palin.