Professor Bill Schneider (REUTERS): Can exploiting fears work for Trump? We’ll find out.
The nation’s establishment appears to have reached a judgment about presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump: His appalling behavior after the Orlando, Florida, nightclub tragedy has discredited him and rendered him unfit for the White House. Do voters agree? It’s not clear yet. Leading Republicans are expressing shame and embarrassment over Trump’s remarks. After Trump addressed the terrorism threat on Monday, Senator Bob Corker of Tennessee, one of Trump’s few supporters in the Senate, said, “It wasn’t the type [of speech] one would expect a person who is wanting to lead the greatest nation in the world to make.”Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, recognized as a leading authority on national security, said, “I don’t think he has the judgment, the temperament or the experience to deal with what we’re facing.”It was shocking to hear Trump congratulate himself after the Orlando tragedy. He boasted, “I’ve been a pretty good prognosticator as to what’s going to be happening.” Trump’s sinister allusions about President Barack Obama’s loyalties were viewed by many analysts as outrageous: “President Obama claims to know our enemy and yet he continues to prioritize our enemy over our allies and, for that matter, the American people.” How’s this for an insinuation: “We’re led by a man that is either not tough, not smart or has something else in mind.” Something else? “There’s something going on,” Trump hinted ominously.Click here to read the full article.