A disgusting weekend in politics of 2016 race
On MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” Monday morning, Republican political operative Steve Schmidt suggested the refusal by Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump to disavow an endorsement of former Ku Klux Klan grand wizard David Duke could have been credited to fatigue – that candidates are hopscotching the country, criss-crossing time zones and are prone to gaffes when they are not well-rested.
Host Joe Scarborough quickly shot back Trump should have been able to answer that question in his sleep.
Sure, Trump later said he somehow misheard the question on a Sunday morning talk show as a result of a bad earpiece, but there was no evidence he was having a hard time hearing his interlocutor when Trump said he knew nothing about Duke, even though he had disavowed him in the past, and moreover, “I don’t know anything about what you’re even talking about with white supremacy or white supremacists … I know nothing about white supremacists.”
The reality, however, is Trump has made the calculation that playing footsie with bigots and hatemongers and spitting venom about Muslims, Mexicans, Black Lives Matter activists and pretty much anyone else who doesn’t proclaim his glory, is going to get him to the doorstep of 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. So, he played dumb. Jonathan Chait, who writes for New York magazine, put it well when he wondered if Trump’s campaign was actually a brilliant bit of guerrilla theater meant to smoke out racists in Republican ranks, “or, more likely, (Trump) is even stupider than anybody else previously believed.”
Trump closing his eyes and covering his ears when it comes to support from white supremacists was unfortunately not the only lowlight in a weekend that should have left Americans disgusted at the tone of the Republican presidential race. The Donald also retweeted a quote from Italian fascist dictator Benito Mussolini, a Nazi ally in World War II and an enthusiastic proponent of poison gas and concentration camps. When asked if he wanted to be associated with one of the 20th century’s most notorious figures, Trump shrugged it off and said Mussolini’s quote was merely “interesting.”
“But what difference does it make whether it’s Mussolini or somebody else? It’s certainly a very interesting quote,” Trump said. “That’s probably why I have between Facebook and Twitter 14 million people when other people don’t.”
As if Trump were not providing enough in the way of bread and circuses, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio apparently decided the only way to beat Trump was join him. His odds looking longer and longer by the day, Rubio ventured into the gutter, making fun of Trump’s spray-on tan, his clothing line, his “sweat mustache” and asserting Trump wanted a full-length mirror at last week’s Republican debate “maybe to make sure his pants weren’t wet.”
Trump fired back that Rubio is a “choker,” “lightweight” and a “clown” who is prone to sweating, and made his point by splashing water out of a bottle during a campaign stop.
We can only imagine what a figure as judicious and dignified as Dwight Eisenhower would have made of this spectacle.
Perhaps the last word, because it is a slightly encouraging one, should come from Meg Whitman, a Hewlett-Packard executive who backed the presidential bid of New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, but is now denouncing Christie for endorsing Trump. She accused Christie of bald-faced opportunism and added “Donald Trump is unfit to be president. He is a dishonest demagogue who plays to our worst fears. Trump would take America on a dangerous journey …”
She added, “For some of us, principle and country still matter.”