In the space of four days, Donald Trump has plunged his presidential campaign into a crisis. He has done this by igniting controversies, each of which was entirely avoidable and which, taken together, have turned his campaign for the presidency into a tire fire.
- He relitigated disputes over his depictions of a disabled New York Times journalist and a Fox News achor, Megyn Kelly.
- He blundered into a Democratic trap by lashing out in response to a goading convention speech by a Muslim father whose son, an American soldier, died heroically fighting in Iraq.
- He doubled down on this spat by casting aspersions on the soldier’s bereaved Muslim mother, and thus created a four-day media firestorm out of an unseemly incident that could have been dismissed quickly with a deft and honorable response. Does Trump really think voters want a president who can be goaded so easily into overreaction?
- And he refused to endorse Rep. Paul Ryan, pointedly echoing the half-hearted words used by the speaker about him two months ago. In doing so, Trump perfectly encapsulated the deepening suspicion that he his incapable or unwilling to do what is politically advisable instead of lashing out at anyone who has shown him less respect than he thinks is his due.
You can tell that Trump and his despondant campaign team know where this is heading because the candidate is already making excuses for defeat, alleging that the November election will be “rigged.”
If he actually wants to win — his behavior allows more than a little room for doubt — Trump needs to stop making excuses, stop lashing out, do some policy homework and get back to the simple message that won him the nomination. He must persuade people that he will “Make America Great Again.” He continues to use that catchphrase, but he is making so much other news with clumsy answers in TV and newspaper interviews that he is drowning out his once-clear campaign theme.
With his erratic behavior and habit of putting petty personal grudges ahead of his own chance of victory, Trump has changed the nature of the election. He has allowed his opponent, Hillary Clinton, to turn the race from a choice between two highly unattractive candidates into an up-or-down vote on Trump’s judgment and temperament. That is a vote the Republican nominee cannot win.
Even former allies acknowledge that Trump’s current behavior is daily proving an unsuitability for office. Newt Gingrich told the Washington Post on Wednesday, “Trump is helping [Clinton] to win by proving he is more unacceptable than she is … He cannot win the presidency operating the way he is now. She can’t be bad enough to elect him if he’s determined to make this many mistakes.”
If Trump has lost Gingrich, he is losing many persuadable voters who might otherwise vote Republican. Gingrich raised the possibility in his interview that Trump might suddenly “learn some new skills.” That is a deeply optimistic assessment, but Trump has three months to prove it.
The country deserves a choice in this year’s election, and Trump is denying them one. It is deplorable to think that he is gifting the presidency to Hillary Clinton who, through 30 years of corrupt and dishonest “public service,” has shown herself utterly unfit for office, particuarly the highest one America has to offer.
Trump is at the cliff’s edge. It is crumbling beneath his feet. He may have time to pull back. But if he does, he has not a second to lose.
