It was a wild and woolly debate, with lots of arguments worth commenting on and exchanges worth evaluating. But as is sometimes the case in these debates, only one statement really mattered.
Asked to defend his 2008 comment that George W. Bush should have been impeached, Donald Trump said: “They lied. They said there were weapons of mass destruction. There were none, and they knew there were none. There were no weapons of mass destruction.”
Interviewers should press Trump on this: What evidence does Trump have that George W. Bush and his top advisers knowingly lied about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq? How many other government officials does Trump believe were in on the deception? What does Trump believe would have been the point of such a lie, since the truth would soon come out?
The other candidates should be challenged: Given Trump’s lie that Bush and other American officials knew there were no weapons of mass destruction, how could you support Donald Trump if he were to become the Republican nominee?
And Republican primary voters need to be asked: You may want to send a message. You may be frustrated with politics as usual. You may agree with Donald Trump on some issues. But can you conscientiously support a man who is willing to say something so irresponsible about something so serious, for the presidency of the United States?
