If you had said to me, “There will come a time when you defend the Washington Post against the Republican presidential nominee,” I would have said, “You must have smoked something, and you must have inhaled.” (Remember that one? This phrase was popular in the early and mid ’90s.) Well, Birnam Wood has come to Dunsinane. (Remember that one? It was popular some time before.)
Trump said of Obama, “We’re led by a man that either is not tough, not smart, or he’s got something else in mind.” He said that Obama “doesn’t get it or he gets it better than anybody understands.”
Asked about these remarks, he said, “I’ll let people figure that out for themselves.”
Well, maybe the Washington Post took him up on that? And figured it out for themselves?
Trump folk are always saying that their man “tells it like it is.” John McCain rode a bus called “the Straight Talk Express.” Trump is said to be a straight-talker extraordinaire. But he is more like the King of Innuendo. He is a weasel-talker extraordinaire. He is the master of “insinnuendo.” (Remember that one? It was an accidental coinage of Mayor Daley — the first Mayor Daley. Who combined “insinuation” and “innuendo.”)
Look, if you want to say that Obama is in cahoots with the Jihad, just say it. (Lord knows I have gone full McCarthy on Obama from time to time.) Trump is the type to say things like, “The judge, who happens to be, we believe, Mexican, which is great — I think that’s fine …” Cripe. If you’re going to call a judge who was born in Indiana, went to Indiana U, went to IU Law School, prosecuted a Mexican drug cartel, lived with his family in hiding for a year as a result, etc., a Mexican, call him a Mexican, and drop the “which is great” and “I think that’s fine” crap. You know?
Earlier, Trump said this of Ted Cruz’s dad: “I mean, what was he doing — what was he doing with Lee Harvey Oswald shortly before the death? Before the shooting? It’s horrible.”
It’s horrible, all right — these weaselly performances by the Republican presidential nominee.
He has a reputation as a big fearsome orange truth-teller, but he often talks like a bratty schoolgirl — “I’ll let people figure that out for themselves.” Man up, DJT. You too, Trump folk.
P.S. I have heard from some readers furious at criticisms of Trump here at National Review. They say that the criticizers betray the team. I remind them that we are a magazine. If you want a site that is free of criticism of Trump, there’s his own site: here. And the RNC’s: here. There’s your team. There are unofficial sites, too, that promote Trump at every turn. Knock yourself out. There’s a big world of choice. But if you don’t want to read anything critical of Trump …
… well, I understand. I have a friend — a senior citizen — who says, “At this stage, I don’t read anything I’m not going to agree with.” I for one can’t stand to read reports of games that the Tigers have lost. Like last night’s. When I woke up this morning, my phone told me that we had blown a seven-run lead. I’m too immature to read how it happened. I’ll read again when the Tigers have won.
So, all God’s chillen have issues.
Donald J. Trump vs. the Washington Post