Tuesday, August 02, 2016

Donald Diving Into the Abyss--with the GOP

Things are unraveling for Trump so fast that I can't keep tacking on to the previous post, which barely covered stuff that happened today (Tuesday.)

When we last saw our hero, the RNC chair with the improbable name was letting it be known that he was very angry about Trump failing to endorse the GOP darling, House Speaker Paul Ryan.  Now the NYTimes sez Trump is doubling down, on...well, everything:

Donald J. Trump’s unabashed and continuing hostility toward the parents of a slain Muslim American soldier, and his attacks on Republican leaders who have rebuked him for it, threaten to shatter his uneasy alliance with the Republican Party at the outset of the general election campaign.

After reporting Trump's statements Tuesday in public and to reporters, the Times concluded:

Republicans now say Mr. Trump’s obstinacy in addressing perhaps the gravest crisis of his campaign may trigger drastic defections within the party, and Republican lawmakers and strategists have begun to entertain abandoning him en masse.

Some have done more than entertain abandonment.  The third woman in the past 24 hours or so--and the most high profile Republican yet--Meg Whitman declared she opposes Trump, called him a demagogue, and said she would support Hillary Clinton--and more:

Meg Whitman, a Hewlett Packard executive and Republican fund-raiser, said Tuesday that she would support Hillary Clinton for president and give a “substantial” contribution to her campaign in order to stop Donald J. Trump, whom she berated as a threat to American democracy.

“I will vote for Hillary, I will talk to my Republican friends about helping her, and I will donate to her campaign and try to raise money for her,” Ms. Whitman said in a telephone interview.

Whitman also used the phrase that is becoming a mantra among Republicans opposing Trump, placing "country above party."

Whitman, a one-time Republican candidate for governor of California, is the second woman today who had campaign ties to Chris Christie to dump on Trump. Whitman described Trump's deficiencies in much the same language as President Obama.  This LA Times piece also notes Trump's doubling down on virtually everything that has caused firestorms of criticism over the past few days.

Meanwhile, Time details Trumps "many many many ties to Russia."

And a heartbreaking story about Captain Khan, so much more a man than Trump.  All these stories should be about him.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Excellent take and summary on current politics -- as usual.