Posted on 02/05/2016 9:08:33 AM PST by SeekAndFind
One Red State diarist wonders whether Trump’s four-day journey from gracious concession to sober self-reflection about his ground game to shrieking about fraud and a do-over in Iowa to low-key “it’s in the past” dismissal means that he’s actually insane. Old theory: Trump is erratic. New theory: Trump is bananas.
I don’t think he’s bananas. I think this is what it looks like when a candidate decides to test out new lines of attack in real time, with the entirety of the media hanging on his every word, instead of with focus groups behind closed doors.
In a striking reversal of rhetoric, Donald Trump would not rule out Ted Cruz as his hypothetical vice-presidential pick.
“Well, I don’t know. Look, I have nothing against him. It was sort of a sad thing that happened, but I’ve always liked him,” Trump told Hugh Hewitt on his radio show Thursday, after weeks of trashing his primary rival as nasty, hypocritical and disliked.
Trump added that he has “always gotten along well” with Cruz, but that “I’m so much now focused on New Hampshire.”
What happened between Wednesday and now? My guess is that Trump concluded that crying “fraud!” over Iowa had backfired, partly because it made him look erratic and sore-loser-ish and partly because it risked annoying New Hampshirites who don’t want to spend their week listening to Trump re-run someone else’s election. That’s where the part about being “so much focused on New Hampshire” comes in. He said nearly the same thing verbatim to Anderson Cooper last night in the interview Ed blogged earlier, suggesting that that’s his new “message” when asked about the results of the caucus — even though that message, that the past is the past, is 180 degrees opposite his demand for a do-over 48 hours ago. What’s going to happen tomorrow night when he’s inevitably asked about fraud in Iowa, probably in the opening minutes of the debate? Even if he tries to duck it, Cruz is going to use it as evidence that Trump’s too unpredictable and prone to “Trumper tantrums” to be president. Does Trump double down on “fraud!” at the point or does he double down on “let’s move on”? There seems to have been no strategy here beyond him rashly tossing the charge about cheating out there, seeing if it stuck, and then dropping it cold turkey when it didn’t. It’s just like when he started calling Cruz a “maniac” for not being able to work with his Senate colleagues before the December debate, took some heat for it on the right, and then was all chummy with Cruz again on debate night. Given how serious the accusations are — election fraud! Cruz unhinged! — these aren’t trial balloons Trump is floating so much as trial zeppelins. And then, a few days later, when it doesn’t work out as well he planned, he turns around and essentially says: What zeppelin?
The really weird part of this, though, is that he’s backing off the personal attacks on Cruz too, not just the fraud claim. How can you say you’ve always liked a guy whom you’ve been calling nasty, corrupt, cronyist, a hypocrite, a “total liar,” and someone whom no one likes once they get to know him? And how can you not rule him out for VP when you’ve spent the past month arguing that he’s not constitutionally eligible to be president? Is Trump dropping that claim too? This whole weird backtrack smells like his campaign manager pulled him aside and told him that attacking Cruz relentlessly has started to hurt his own popularity, which is dangerous when he’s being threatened by a well-liked candidate in Marco Rubio. So now Trump’s going to chuck everything he’s been saying since New Year’s and try a new low-key “I’m serious and I’m staying on message” approach. Good luck, I guess.
Via the Right Scoop, here he is last night getting angry (and profane) in a much more productive way than he did with this week’s “fraud” digression.
Anyone have a video or audio of Trump saying that? Please post link.
Yeah, it is. He said he wanted Cruz to go to a court and get a ruling.
Close enough for horseshoes and politics.
LOL. How magnanimous! Trump tweeted that Cruz is a criminal, dirty, maniac, no one likes him, nasty, ineligible to be president, Canadian, bought by GS, cheater, what else? Over on other threads Trumpbots are still trashing Cruz. What will they do now?
No, but it's corrupt as all hell, like everything else here in the People's Socialist RepuliK of Illannoyed ...
I live here, I oughtta know!
“Yeah, it is. He said he wanted Cruz to go to a court and get a ruling.”
No. That was not my question. Everyone knows he said that.
Did Trump mention the court rulings as the reason he now would consider Cruz as VP?
I don’t see what the big deal was. Trump mentioned in the debate a few weeks back that Cruz needed to get a declaratory judgment since he may consider him for VP.
Reagan picked Bush in 1980 after a nasty primary. At the end of the day, you pick the person who you think is best. People are saying Trump is unstable? Look at Ted Cruz. He was sucking up to Donald, kissing his ass, agreeing with everything he said, and yesterday was saying he would nuke Denmark.
It’s all theater. There may be some hard feelings now but a few months can change a lot of things.
Okay. . . . Now we can use this Trump quote when all the TRUMPSTERS on FR call TED a hated guy, dishonest, blah, blah. booked marked!
I am taking bets on how long it will be until Trump is back to supporting partial birth abortion. This guy is all over the place.
Of course it is a court! Because that is what Trump wanted so a board now is court in the eyes of the followers..
Which is it, Donnie - were you lying then, or are you lying now?
I’d like to see Jeff Sessions as VP.
Maybe someone else has other suggestions.
Anyone who thinks Cruz is not going to use Trump’s statement against Trump is naive.
“You can’t trust Trump to do what he says he will do because he can’t decide from day to day whether he likes me or not.”
Riddle me this
What a stupid thing to say
I don't think so. Maybe a distinction without a difference, but what Trump said was that he hasn't ruled Cruz out. I believe that is status quo. I know of no remark by Trump that he's ruled ANYBODY out for VP.
Everybody on Free Republic is an idiot!
I did not say that everybody on Free Republic was an idiot. I never said that. I don’t know what you are talking about. This is old news!
RE: Maybe someone else has other suggestions.
Jim DeMint
I suppose if you’re cool with a Canadian VP who could not legally succeed you, that makes perfect sense.
No. It’s pretty obvious. The Marine Corps manual doesn’t mention where you get lunch, but every Marine knows where to eat.
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