Washington Post (The Fix)
By Chris Cillizza
February 28, 2016
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
ways.
Trump's performance on the Sunday talk shows is indicative of this tendency.
Early
on Sunday morning, Trump retweeted a quote from Italian fascist Benito
Mussolini. The Mussolini account that Trump retweeted was part of an
elaborate attempt from
Gawker to dupe him.
Asked about it by Chuck Todd, host of NBC's "Meet the Press," Trump responded:
Look,
Mussolini was Mussolini. It's okay to — it's a very good quote, it's a
very interesting quote, and I know it. I saw it. I saw what — and I know
who said it. But
what difference does it make whether it's Mussolini or somebody else?
It's certainly a very interesting quote.
But wait, there's more!
Trump
also appeared on CNN's "State of the Union" on Sunday. Here's an
exchange between Trump and host Jake Tapper when he asked the candidate
about the fact that several
white supremacist organizations have spoken favorably of Trump's
candidacy:
Trump:
"Well, just so you understand, I don't know anything about [former Ku
Klux Klan head] David Duke. Okay? I don't know anything about what
you're even talking about
with white supremacy or white supremacists. So, I don't know. I don't
know. Did he endorse me or what's going on, because, you know, I know
nothing about David Duke. I know nothing about white supremacists. And
so you're asking me a question that I'm supposed
to be talking about people that I know nothing about. "
Tapper:
"But I guess the question from the Anti-Defamation League is, even if
you don't know about their endorsement, there are these groups and
individuals endorsing
you. Would you just say unequivocally you condemn them and you don't
want their support?"
Trump:
"Well, I have to look at the group. I mean, I don't know what group
you're talking about. You wouldn't want me to condemn a group that I
know nothing about. I would
have to look. If you would send me a list of the groups, I will do
research on them. And, certainly, I would disavow them if I thought
there was something wrong."
Tapper: "The Ku Klux Klan?"
Trump:
"But you may have groups in there that are totally fine, and it would
be very unfair. So give me a list of the groups, and I will let you
know."
Tapper: "Okay. I mean, I'm just talking about David Duke and the Ku Klux Klan here, but ..."
Trump:
"I don't know any — honestly, I don't know David Duke. I don't believe I
have ever met him. I'm pretty sure I didn't meet him. And I just don't
know anything about
him."
In
one Sunday morning, you have the most-likely Republican presidential
nominee refusing, repeatedly, to disavow the KKK and saying, "Mussolini
was Mussolini."
Make
no mistake: Neither of these comments will adversely affect Trump in
the upcoming Super Tuesday primaries and caucuses. For his supporters —
and, at this point, that's
a lot of people — his willingness to completely spurn the
political-correctness police is the very thing that draws them to him.
And, his unwillingness to apologize when scolded by the news media or
other Republican politicians for some of his inflammatory
remarks make his backers love him all the more: He's edgy! He's
anti-establishment! He tells it like it is!
It
works for Trump. Obviously. He has gone from a comic figure to the
presumptive Republican presidential nominee in eight months.
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.
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