Trump bluffs past another crisis

Politico ^ | 9/5/15 | BEN SCHRECKINGER

[jimbo123]

Foreign policy gaffe prompts a familiar strategy: Don’t apologize, strike back at questioner.

Donald Trump’s enemies have been waiting for his Sarah Palin moment. On Thursday night, they thought they had it.

Trump whiffed on a foreign policy query about the leaders of major terrorist organizations and of Iran’s Quds Force. His ignorance of General Qasem Soleimani and his inability to distinguish between the “Quds Force” and the Kurdish people immediately became the focus of the national conversation.

But then the event took a distinctly Trumpian turn: The candidate not only didn’t apologize or express any regret, he launched an attack on his questioner, conservative talk-show host Hugh Hewitt, as a “third-rate radio announcer.”

Trump has gone down this path before: After a bruising exchange over his use of derogatory terms like “fat pig” to describe women he didn’t like, Trump took heavy aim at his questioner, Megyn Kelly, and never looked back.

It didn’t bother him that Kelly and Hewitt are conservative icons;

[nathanbedford]

Every morning when we wake up we are confronted with a new Donald Trump grotesquerie.

You can set your watch by the rapidity with which his defenders will tell us that the messenger is crazy, that the messenger is a Rino, that it doesn't matter because everybody does it, that it doesn't matter because he is electable.

This short reply was posted two days ago but it seems that it can be posted virtually every day. On that occasion it was revealed the Trump and cozied up to Al Sharpton. Today we learn that he is ignorant of the players in the Middle East. What will we learn tomorrow?

[SamAdams76]

How come nobody ever asks the Democrat front-runner these kind of questions? Why is it always the conservative that has to know places and names, like some high school geography club nerd?

It's not important for Trump to know the vowel-starved names of overseas terrorists. It's important that the terrorists know Trump's name and that they know what is coming their way should he get elected.

[Iron Munro]

Is Trump gong to be treated like Sarah Palin?

After the first debate and what we see happening now I would say It seems so.

Does anyone think that Barack Obama was any better equipped to lead America than Donald Trump is?

I’m sure Obama knew much more about the muslim world than Trump does but Obama has proven that his knowledge and insight about the rest of the world was and is laughable.

Knowing the names of muslim terrorist leaders and militant dictators hasn’t made Obama a great president.

Remember, Obama campaigned and was elected on his promise of HOPE and CHANGE and not one representative of the mainstream media dared to ask him exactly what the details of that CHANGE were.

But Trump is expected to have a grasp of whatever detail or minutia an interviewer can throw at him.

It is a Presidents own philosophy, ideals, goals, ability and personality that determine the quality of his leadership - not the ability to answer detailed questions about minutia during a campaign.

Trump, or anyone else elected to the presidency, will have access to the very best minds and most knowledgeable people as advisers. Just as Obama does.

Does anyone doubt that Trump would make wiser choices in his cabinet and staff of advisors than Obama has?

[grania]

"Quds" and "Kurds" certainly do sound similar. I don't see why a question has to be that specific. A question that elicited Trump's (and any other candidates) vision for what to do going forward is more appropriate.

If the question (or one as specific) wasn't asked of the others, it's a "gotcha'" question.

That being said, I do hope that Trump spends some of his now-famous awake at all hours routine studying up on current events, so he has more specifics.

[Jane Long]

Activist @jorgeramosnews says $20,000,000,000 to #BuildTheWall is a waste of money⁉️Lets look at the BIG picture💰💰💰‼️ pic.twitter.com/zTkHRHVwdO— Daniel Scavino Jr. (@DanScavino) September 5, 2015

[VanDeKoik]

These people on both the left and right still haven’t learned that the stupid tricks and cliched attacks DONT WORK on Trump because he hasn’t held political office and doesn’t have the “proper training” in how to do the dance that press and elected officials have perfected where press goes after you, and then you slink off and act contrite, or give an “aw shucks” response to appear folksy.

When people attack him, it is like attacking a normal Joe on the street. It pisses people off when they see the lame gotchas, and Trump’s responses are the exact thing the average person would say if it was them.

[oldbrowser]

Yes

[jimbo123]

Hewitt’s “Who is Ali-Achmed-al Goat Fornicator?” nonsense backfired on him because it was clear it was a gotcha hit job and nothing more.

[uncitizen]

He took another media creep down a notch. That’s a good thing. His insult worked because he didn’t use those phony SOPs that we all despise so much. Those people don’t deserve to be treated with even faux respect.

[ichabod1]

I liked the Reagan quote Rush brought up yesterday “It is not important that I should know their names. What is important is they should know MY name.”

[kabar]

Today we learn that he is ignorant of the players in the Middle East. What will we learn tomorrow?

Trump is not a politician nor does he get intelligence briefings every day. He will get such briefings as the campaign field gets narrowed down. Trump's "ignorance" gap will be rapidly closed. Not knowing the names of the somewhat obscure terrorists, some of whom are being liquidated by drone strikes, is minor and inconsequential. As President, Trump will become better informed than almost everyone else. He will have access to intelligence that very few have.

The question concerned Russia's so-called presidential elections Sunday to pick a successor to Vladimir Putin. Russert wanted to know what Clinton could tell the world about this new president.

In her 204-word response Clinton worked in how he'd been hand-picked by Putin, how Russia's political opposition has been suppressed and how she'd been critical of the Bush administration on a wide variety of issues regarding Russia.

Then, Russert pounced: "Who will it be? Do you know his name?"

Chances are you don't know his name. But then you're not running for president. We'll never know if the name was known by Obama, who is running for president, because Russert chose to put Clinton on the spot. And she blew it. Although the official transcript partially covers up her mistake. It has Clinton replying, "Medvedev -- whatever."

What a tape actually shows the senator said was, "Meh, uhm, Me-ned-vadah -- whatever."

Russert then turned to Obama, who during a forum last summer referred to the president of Canada which, of course, has no president; it has a prime minister. "Do you know anything about him?" Russert asked.

Obama, who looked genuinely relieved not to have gotten the Russian name question, took the easy way out. "Well," he said in his 163-word response, "I think Senator Clinton speaks accurately about him..." and continued to also criticize the Bush administration.

Phew. On such chances do lasting voter impressions rest.

[JLAGRAYFOX]

POLITICO, Fool....neither Megyn Kelly or Hugh Hewitt are Conservative Icons!!! Go....Donald Trump!!! We need both major political parties turned upside down and inside out to save America!!!

[unixfox]

To me it was not a bluff. I don’t give a flying fig if Trump doesn’t know the names of our enemies leaders.

If I need to know the names, I can Google them.

[dila813]

I think he is entertaining and intelligent, but he knew what he was doing, he had an agenda.

That’s why Trump’s attack works.

[billyboy15]

Hmm, does someone at Politico have their panties in a wad?

I guess the lib media just can’t deal with a pol who doesn’t dance to their tune.

Sad, that.

[AEMILIUS PAULUS]

The MSM has been anti-American since the end of WWII.(I know as I have seen the MSM function over that time.) It is the fact that the people are starting to recognize that the MSM is an enemy that leads to the vocal support of Trump’s statements.

[AEMILIUS PAULUS]

The MSM has been anti-American since the end of WWII.(I know as I have seen the MSM function over that time.) It is the fact that the people are starting to recognize that the MSM is an enemy that leads to the vocal support of Trump’s statements.

[uncitizen]

Trump is giving the people what they want. The LSM is giving the people something that they don’t want anymore. And they don’t know how to deal with that.

[Publius22]

He did finally lose me though. He lost me with his “third rate” insult. Really bad form. He’s a really sore loser, and he has power. That makes him dangerous to those with whom he disagrees. On some issues, that would be me - and you.

Yeah, Dole, McCain, and Romney were gracious losers. It's a Republican tradition. Time for a change.

[Calvin Locke]

I mean you’ll never in a million years see someone asking Hitlery...

The press acted like they were supposed to when Walter Mondale announced Geraldine Ferraro as his running mate.

Ferraro angrily broke down under the barrage of expected questions and said "Why are you doing this to me? I'm on your side!"

The media was reminded once again against asking Dems legitimate questions after Roger Mudd blew his chance at the CBS anchor job for asking Ted Kennedy why he wanted to be president. Even a vacuous beauty contestant can automatically regurgitate "world peace", but not an "esteemed" wet-brained member of the "world's greatest deliberate body" who muffed the easy question, and was not asked about leaving the blonde in the pond to die.