He knows it perfectly well and has triggered all this intentionally. If you pay close attention to all of his highly "controversial" statements, they're all crafted like bait laced with poison, assuring when all is said and done he wins, making fools of enemies/media who took the bait.
Exactly! The author, however, has to maintain "objectivity" with a gratuitous, throw-away statement acknowledging the perspective of both the left and the RINO's.
The left often agreed Reagan was turning things around (thereby rattling their fundamental belief system), but then would comment along the lines of "those close to him who know him well say he really isn't very smart".
It is ridiculous to believe Trump got this far in politics without putting together a research team.