Trump after knucklehead vote
As we noted in a Thursday editorial, Donald Trump may well be what fellow Republican presidential hopeful Lindsey Graham called him – “the world’s biggest jackass” – but he is not stupid.
Trump loves attention and he knows how to get it. By being outrageous, he has all the media following him around, reporting every syllable that tumbles from his lips. Moreover, he has captured the attention of a huge portion of the electorate that other candidates utterly ignore: the Stupid Vote.
While others with presidential aspirations actively seek the support of Hispanics, women and union workers, Trump has identified a much larger and under served demographic – the ignorant – and has won their devotion with his candid, belligerent, braying jackassery.
It’s a fact there are more than 300 million people living in the United States, and an awful lot of them are not exactly smart. Who are they? They’re the people who fall for Nigerian Internet scams, losing their bank accounts in hopes of sharing an African prince’s inheritance. They are bitter, middle-aged white men who spend all their free time writing venomous and anonymous online posts. They are the people who believe that by building something like China’s Great Wall along the Rio Grande we can control immigration, even though most immigrants are coming from China, and not by way of Mexico. They are the drivers who refuse to wear seat belts or use their turn signals. They are the people who find the “Blondie” comic strip hilarious, who can’t find Italy on a world map and won’t swim in Lake Erie for fear of sharks.
These are the people who think a billionaire buffoon is just what this country needs.
We said Thursday that the vast field of Republican candidates are now laboring in Trump’s shadow. It’s only a matter of time before they wise up, start acting like jackasses and start moving up in the polls.