Sunday provided another round of shocking comments from Donald Trump, denying Speaker Paul Ryan his much needed day of rest.
On CNN’s “State of the Union” today, Donald Trump schockingly claimed to not know enough about David Duke and the Ku Klux Klan to disavow him.
And on NBC’s “Meet the Press”, Trump responded to questions about why he retweeted a statement originally made by fascist Benito Mussolini. Trump dismissed any concern over endorsing the words of a fascist, and noted “It’s certainly a very interesting quote.”
Why is that such a problem for people like Speaker Paul Ryan, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, and their vulnerable incumbents in November? Because, as Chris Cillizza notes below, not only is Trump taking extreme, divisive positions on issues like immigration or the treatment of Muslim-Americans, but he does it unpredictably and unapologetically. This makes an emergency Trump-management plan near impossible for down-ballot Republicans.
“Clearly concerned that Speaker Paul Ryan and vulnerable House Republicans’ extreme heartburn might subside this weekend, Trump is at it again. On today’s insult list, Donald Trump offered support for white supremicists and fascists, with total disregard for the hate and pain that they represent for so many Americans,” Meredith Kelly of the DCCC.
ICYMI: Donald Trump is remarkably dangerous to the Republican Party. Here’s why.
by Chris Cillizza
2/28/16
As it’s become more and more clear that Donald Trump is the odds-on favorite to be the Republican presidential nominee, there’s been considerable speculation about what he could mean for the broader GOP, particularly as the party tries to hold its Senate majority and consolidate its House margins in the 2016 election.
The answer: Nothing good — and perhaps something very bad.
While Trump’s hard-line immigration policy (send ’em back, build a wall, make Mexico pay for it, etc.) has caused most of the hand-wringing within establishment GOP circles, the real danger for the likes of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) is not in that single issue. It’s in Trump’s remarkable unpredictability and seeming willingness to say things for the sake of shock value, and then inexplicably stand behind them — in fiercely unapologetic always.
[…]
The problem for anyone not named Trump — like the eight or so vulnerable Republican senators up for reelection in swing states — is that his unpredictability and love of controversy makes it almost impossible to deal with him as a factor in those races.
If the extent of Trump’s controversial views was only his stance on immigration, that could be relatively easily handled by other down-ballot Republicans. For example, they could say: “I don’t agree with Mr. Trump on every issue — we differ on immigration, for instance — but he understands that people are fed up with politics as usual and want a change after eight destructive years of Barack Obama.” Not bad, right?
But, if you have no idea what Trump is going to tweet, retweet or say from the podium in front of thousands of people and dozens of TV cameras on a daily basis, that’s hugely problematic for any Republican trying to calculate how to deal with him in their own campaign.
Having to respond to your presidential nominee’s unwillingness to condemn the KKK or his seeming praise for the views of a fascist dictator in a single day — and with no idea what might come the next day — is the worst sort of problem for any candidate to deal with.
That’s why Trump represents such a remarkable danger to the broader Republican Party as its presidential nominee. It’s not that he has controversial views. (He does.) It’s that he is totally unpredictable and undisciplined, careening wildly off message on a minute-by-minute basis. It works — or, at least, has worked to this point — for him. But it’s a total nightmare for any Republican looking at a tough reelection race this fall.