Last night’s incredibly ignorant answer by Donald Trump to a man who claimed, “We have a problem in this country, it’s called Muslims. Our current President is one. We know he’s not even an American. We have training camps growing where they want to kill us….when can we get rid of them?” immediately reminded me of Trump’s fortunately short-lived fumble at running for the presidency back in 2011.
True to the same braggadocio form we see again today, the presidential wannabe crowed then:
This decision does not come easily or without regret; especially when my potential candidacy continues to be validated by ranking at the top of the Republican contenders in polls across the country.
In a statement, he added, “I maintain the strong conviction that if I were to run, I would be able to win the primary and ultimately, the general election,”
At the time the Washington Post said that Trump’s decision brought to an end “a political roller coaster ride on which the flamboyant celebrity pushed the debate over whether President Obama was born in the United States into the public eye…”
In an eerie similarity, the I-am-very-rich-you-know 2015 declared candidate claims today that he has brought the immigration issue — you know, Mexicans who are bringing drugs, bringing crime, who are rapists… — to the forefront of the political discussion.
Very similar is also his performance at the New Hampshire town hall meeting last night when he failed to refute the claim that president Obama is a Muslim and “not even an American.”
Eerie because in 2011 that is exactly what Trump’s “platform” was all about.
The following post, from May 2011, could have been posted today, September 18, 2015, especially after Trump’s performance last night.
“The concluding paragraph in the Washington Post’s announcement that “Trump won’t run for president in 2012,” pretty much says it all from the Republican front:
Trump’s decision not to run is likely to be greeted by a sigh of relief by most Republican Party strategists who viewed Trump as a major distraction for the more serious contenders for the nomination.
To those who have consistently viewed the spectacle put on by this ostentatious, thin-skinned man as nothing less than vanity and nothing more than showmanship, it fortunately is the end of, as the Post puts it, a “circus-like” distraction.
Sadly this jester had to smear the birth credentials — and the good name — of a sitting President to get traction in his short-lived “campaign.”
But even more sad for our country, it is this very same issue — the birther issue — that propelled his standing in the polls. As Trump himself proudly claims in his announcement:
This decision does not come easily or without regret; especially when my potential candidacy continues to be validated by ranking at the top of the Republican contenders in polls across the country.
Even more indicative of this man’s egomania, he had the impudence to crow that he was so proud of himself because he had “accomplished something that nobody else has been able to accomplish,” when the President released his long form birth certificate.
But what else does The Donald have to say about his decision not to run?
The arrogance we have become so accustomed to: “I maintain the strong conviction that if I were to run, I would be able to win the primary and ultimately, the general election,” and an affirmation of what is truly important to this very wealthy man: “Ultimately, however, business is my greatest passion and I am not ready to leave the private sector.”
A few weeks ago, reflecting on Trump’s “birther” activities, I wrote:
Mr. Trump’s irascible embrace of the widely discredited and condemned “birther” movement so early in the presidential campaign has become his own sword of Damocles — one that will eventually shatter his presidential ambitions.
I would like to claim that I was prescient. However, anyone with eyes, common sense, and the least bit of discernment would have predicted this outcome.”
This time, unfortunately, it is different.
No matter how contemptuous and reprehensible Mr. Trump’s conduct becomes, his base just cheers louder and loves him more.
And so — a sad testament to America’s political malaise — those with “eyes, common sense, and the least bit of discernment” may not be able to predict the outcome this time.
Note: The title of the 2011 post was, “Donald Trump Throws in the Towel—In ‘Style.’” No such immediate hopes right now and especially no illusion of “style” — even in quotes.
