Video has Republicans jumping ship
“I could stand in the middle of 5th Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn’t lose voters.” Donald J. Trump, at a Sioux City, Iowa rally on Jan. 23rd.
Who’re They Callin’ a “Fat Pig” Now, Donald?
Until recently, Donald Trump’s boast that he could pull out a gun and shoot some unsuspecting soul on a New York street, seemed plausible.
His ardent supporters had glued themselves to him – no matter what he’d say or do.
Then came that vulgar video tape.
If you’re not aware of the video tape I just mentioned, you must be reading this in a cave.
Let’s just say, while I mention the contents of that video, its exact contents, are, well, unmentionable here.
Since Trump first announced his candidacy, he’s managed to insult Mexican immigrants, Muslims, his primary and general election opponents, POWS, a Gold Star family, a beauty queen, a Mexican-American judge and, most importantly, the intelligence of the American voter, while his support has steadily grown.
He has, however, suffered a steady decline in the support of high-profile Republicans who’ve slowly discovered they have a conscience.
That video tape turned a trickle into a gusher.
Within hours of its release, dozens of Republicans decided they’d had enough.
A man who brags, or even jokes, about sexual assault led three dozen governors, senators and U.S. representatives to run for cover.
Some of them, who had previously proclaimed they were “all in” on Trump, were decidedly all out.
The move away from Trump was rather easy for some elected Republicans who had only offered their tepid support for him. After all, for them, he was nothing more than a roadblock to a potential Hillary Clinton presidency.
But the most vociferous Republicans are finding themselves having to navigate a high wire.
Many of them claimed that Trump’s words were vile, demeaning, repulsive and disgusting, but they still decided not to pull their endorsement from him.
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, one of Trump’s closest allies, disappeared from the campaign for a couple of days after the tape was leaked.
When he re-emerged, he said of Trump’s vulgarity, “It is completely indefensible. I won’t defend it.”
Yet, Christie also sounded like the video had been some kind of performance, of which Trump had merely been a performer, when it came to stepping away from him.
“I’m still supporting Donald. I’m really upset about what I heard, but in the end this election is about bigger issues,” Christie said.
The fact is, Christie, and members of Trump’s campaign, have painted themselves into a mighty tight political corner.
They know that by completely backing away from their man, they’re essentially handing votes to “that woman.”
They’d managed to gloss over all of Trump’s past bad behavior by saying he’s either misunderstood, or that Hillary Clinton is far worse.
But admitting the released tape presented Trump in a light less than presidential, but still supporting him, reveals a serious lack of backbone.
Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions has been among Trump’s most devoted apologists.
He had another way of defending Trump-on-tape – just play dumb.
When he was asked if Trump had been describing a sexual assault, Sessions replied, “I don’t characterize that as sexual assault. I think that’s a stretch. I don’t know what he meant.”
Before Sessions had been a U.S. Senator, he’d been a U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Alabama, and Alabama’s attorney general. In 1986, he’d also been nominated for a federal judgeship by Ronald Reagan.
Of course he knew Trump was talking about sexual assault.
Sessions is fully aware of the fact that the man he supports has gotten away with making all kinds nasty statements, and that he’s been forced to ignore them – because “the stakes are too high.”
Donald J. Trump, who has freely called women “fat pigs,” may dress in fancy thousand dollar, well-tailored suits.
But beneath all of that finery, even many Republicans think he’s nothing more than a corpulent swine.
Sessions knows that. Christie knows that.
I wouldn’t doubt that Trump, himself, knows that.
Edward A. Owens is a three-time Emmy Award winner and 20-year veteran of television news. E-mail him at freedoms@bellatlantic.net