Patterico's Pontifications

8/8/2015

Whether Good Or Bad, Trump Will Keep Himself On The Front Page

Filed under: General — Dana @ 10:01 am



[guest post by Dana]

This man is clearly a believer in the old adage that there is no such thing as bad publicity.

At the GOP debate on Thursday, Donald Trump didn’t take kindly to Megyn Kelly’s first question put to him (relevant portion):

KELLY: Mr. Trump, one of the things people love about you is you speak your mind and you don’t use a politician’s filter. However, that is not without its downsides, in particular, when it comes to women.

You’ve called women you don’t like “fat pigs, dogs, slobs, and disgusting animals.”

Your Twitter account has several disparaging comments about women’s looks. You once told a contestant on Celebrity Apprentice it would be a pretty picture to see her on her knees. Does that sound to you like the temperament of a man we should elect as president, and how will you answer the charge from Hillary Clinton, who was likely to be the Democratic nominee, that you are part of the war on women?

Trump responded that his comments were meant in “fun” and that neither he nor the country had time for “political correctness”, and then essentially told Kelly that it was too bad, so sad if she didn’t like his comments.

Last night, Trump went even further during an interview with CNN’s Don Lemon. He said Kelly was “highly overrated” and that her questions were “ridiculous” and “off base”. And then he actually said:

There was blood coming out of her eyes, blood coming out of her… wherever.

As a result of Trump’s comments, Erick Erickson at Red State, who claims to personally like Trump, disinvited him to the influential RedState Gathering this weekend:

I have tried to give a great deal of latitude to Donald Trump in his run for the Presidency.

He is not a professional politician and is known for being a blunt talker. He connects with so much of the anger in the Republican base and is not afraid to be outspoken on a lot of issues. But there are even lines blunt talkers and unprofessional politicians should not cross.

Decency is one of those lines.

Erickson went on to say “It was not the “blood coming out of her eyes” part that was the problem”:

I think there is no way to otherwise interpret Mr. Trump’s comment. In an attempted clarification, Mr. Trump’s team tells me he meant “whatever”, not “where ever.”

He concluded his statement with:

I’ve been very sympathetic to Donald Trump because so many of the people who have led the party astray refuse to even treat him as a legitimate candidate.

But I also think that while Mr. Trump resonates with a lot of people with his bluntness, including me to a degree, there are just real lines of decency a person running for President should not cross.

His comment was inappropriate. It is unfortunate to have to disinvite him. But I just don’t want someone on stage who gets a hostile question from a lady and his first inclination is to imply it was hormonal. It just was wrong.

I have invited Megyn Kelly to attend in Donald Trump’s place tomorrow night.

Trump clarified his comment about Kelly, claiming that he meant:

“‘blood coming out of her eyes and whatever,’ meaning nose.”

He added: “Only a deviant would think anything else.”

The next round of polling numbers will be telling. While there is a petition circulating (nearly 10,000 signatures) to have Megyn Kelly banned from moderating any more GOP debates, some fellow GOP candidates have blasted Trump for this latest round of inappropriate comments.

Trump clearly thinks that being a candidate for the highest office in the land is the same as being the boss of one’s own “empire”.

And just a small observation: As it seems to go with a certain type of man who has great power and wealth, and an even greater ego, Trump simply cannot resist the compulsion to continually try to convince everyone else of his self-importance. Woe to those who don’t buy into it. It’s a rather pedestrian insecurity that betrays the exterior image of the all-powerful, brash braggadocio who doesn’t care what anyone thinks about him. Yet, given enough time, these sorts eventually hang themselves by a self-made rope of childish insecurity and insatiable ego.

–Dana


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