In the last 24 hours, Donald Trump has retweeted a quote from Benito Mussolini, the fascist dictator of Italy during World War II. He has also refused on national television to renounce the support of David Duke and the KKK. After a few hours and a national frenzy on Twitter and TV, Trump walked back his comments on Duke.
These are unforced errors by Donald Trump which are quite different from the way his campaign operated in the past. Sure, in the past Trump said some rather controversial things, but none of them came close to quoting fascists or accepting the support of white supremacists like Duke. To be fair, Trump didn't say that he accepted Duke's support, but only that he had to investigate to find out more about it. But also, to be fair, anyone who lived through the 1980's and 1990's and was even slightly politically aware knows full well just who David Duke is. Further, Trump has talked about Duke in the past. And are we really to believe that Trump forgot who the KKK really are and what their hateful views are? No, this was just another attempt by Trump to take control of a news cycle. He wants all the TV stories to be about him. This time, however, the story will be his acceptance of support from the KKK. That should really hurt him with a great many voters.
This latest stunt is perhaps the worst that Trump has ever pulled. He called some of the Mexican illegals rapists and murderers. That is true even if Trump tended to overstate the case. He made remarks that called into question whether John McCain is a hero. That was more political than anything. Trump denounced Megyn Kelly and it was just entertainment. He called Carly Fiorina ugly and he got slapped around for it. He called Cruz a liar and he mostly got away with it. Now he's on to calling Rubio "little", "sweaty" and a liar. That one is going nowhere. Most people saw Rubio demolish Trump at the debate the other night; they know that Trump's attacks are garbage designed to deflect attention from his own failures. Nevertheless, all of these feuds and insults have never amounted to anything like accepting support from the Ku Klux Klan. That is even worse than having supported the Great Satan (also known as Hillary Clinton.)
I don't know how far this story will spread before Tuesday. It is going to hurt Trump, however, and there's nothing he can do about it now.
These are unforced errors by Donald Trump which are quite different from the way his campaign operated in the past. Sure, in the past Trump said some rather controversial things, but none of them came close to quoting fascists or accepting the support of white supremacists like Duke. To be fair, Trump didn't say that he accepted Duke's support, but only that he had to investigate to find out more about it. But also, to be fair, anyone who lived through the 1980's and 1990's and was even slightly politically aware knows full well just who David Duke is. Further, Trump has talked about Duke in the past. And are we really to believe that Trump forgot who the KKK really are and what their hateful views are? No, this was just another attempt by Trump to take control of a news cycle. He wants all the TV stories to be about him. This time, however, the story will be his acceptance of support from the KKK. That should really hurt him with a great many voters.
This latest stunt is perhaps the worst that Trump has ever pulled. He called some of the Mexican illegals rapists and murderers. That is true even if Trump tended to overstate the case. He made remarks that called into question whether John McCain is a hero. That was more political than anything. Trump denounced Megyn Kelly and it was just entertainment. He called Carly Fiorina ugly and he got slapped around for it. He called Cruz a liar and he mostly got away with it. Now he's on to calling Rubio "little", "sweaty" and a liar. That one is going nowhere. Most people saw Rubio demolish Trump at the debate the other night; they know that Trump's attacks are garbage designed to deflect attention from his own failures. Nevertheless, all of these feuds and insults have never amounted to anything like accepting support from the Ku Klux Klan. That is even worse than having supported the Great Satan (also known as Hillary Clinton.)
I don't know how far this story will spread before Tuesday. It is going to hurt Trump, however, and there's nothing he can do about it now.
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