In an op-ed for CNN, veteran political commentator David Axelrod lists a series of what he labels “unsettling comments” by Donald Trump in recent days. Foremost is the “gratuitous and disturbing slap” at the Gold Star mother who stood by her husband’s side as he spoke at the Democratic National Convention. Axelrod also mentions the Paul Ryan snub, the crying baby, all of Trump’s seemingly outrageous behavior as if it’s somehow new territory. But Trump’s supporters don’t find his recent work anomalous or out of character. That woman at the Trump rally with the baby? She very likely still plans to vote for Trump.
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Axelrod is addressing speculation that Trump may quit the race, though he concludes Trump’s “throwing the race” is unlikely, given the candidate’s Charlie Sheen-like emphasis on winning. But the dissenting voices Axelrod uses to illustrate how far afield Trump has gone lately are from traditional GOP congressmen and standard bearers. Those aren’t Trump people to begin with. Axelrod believes Trump will need to win over more voters to win the general election. Trump, however, clearly thinks he has enough, or he’d be working harder to build bridges, not walls. What’s indisputably true is that what Axelrod calls Trump’s “binge of bombast” isn’t new. It isn’t even a binge. For Trump, it’s a lifestyle.*
*hundreds of articles on Trump’s outrageous statements all precede this week’s alleged binge. A Google search on Trump’s Outrageous Statements returns half a million results.
