“False; he does need to tone it down”
I’m not convinced of that.
When you use the example of the Trump University judge, where Trump is generally regarded as the loser in the exchange, then it seems you may have a point.
But when he comes out ahead, as with Ginsberg, it seems fighting back is exactly the right approach, and it’s about time we had a candidate that fights back.
The problem I have with second guessing his instinct to fight back, and suggesting he should tone it down, is this: We never know how it’s going to turn out when he fights back - even with Ginsberg, at first his comments seem a bit over the top - her mind is shot, she’s disgusting, she should resign. Only in retrospect do they seem spot on, now that we know he got the upper hand this time.
So, I am inclined to support the fighting back approach, which is so refreshing. Even if he loses a few exchanges and they manage to make him look bad, it’s worth the risk. If he hadn’t hit back all those times over the last year (and a lot of those hits made me cringe a bit when he said them) he would not be where he is today, on the verge of becoming POTUS. It’s working.
Let Trump be Trump.
IMHO
I agree he should respond, fight back. He needs to be circumspect when he does and not cross red lines. Not fighting back is how Bush lost the country.