“My party has gone batshit crazy.”
So said former Republican presidential candidate Sen. Lindsey Graham (S.C.), on February 26 at the Washington Press Club Foundation Dinner.
Imagine what he would have said if the dinner were after the most recent GOP presidential debate, and I use the term "presidential" rather generously. Donald Trump's penis joke, the petty personal insults, and other stuff you'd expect to hear by the monkey bars of an elementary school rather than a presidential debate stage.
Oddly enough, swearing became the focal point of a recent news cycle when former Mexican president Vicente Fox rebuked Trump, “I’m not going to pay for that f***ing wall,” during an interview with Univision’s Al Punto.
Trump rebutted on Twitter: “FMR PRES of Mexico, Vicente Fox horribly used the F word when discussing the wall. He must apologize! If I did that there would be a uproar!”
On the latest episode of HBO's “Real Time with Bill Maher,” the host barraged Trump with a montage of expletives barked by the Donald in public, thus highlighting his hypocrisy.
One example of Trump’s impeccable decorum was at a campaign rally just prior to the New Hampshire primary. The real estate mogul repeated what an audience member said about Ted Cruz, announcing, “She said, ‘He’s a pussy.’”
Crying foul or blaming the media is nothing new for Donald Trump. Recall when he refused to attend a GOP debate because Megyn Kelly of FOX News was going to moderate. Why couldn’t he stand her? He didn’t like her questions.
Recently, some audio leaked of Trump speaking with the hosts of the TV show “Morning Joe” during a commercial break. Trump joked to Mika Brzezinski to not ask anything too difficult. But the Donald then told both hosts to, “make us all look good.” Again, if you can’t take the heat…
He may give off the tough-guy persona, but Trump is easy to rattle.
Whether it comes from television hosts, debate moderators or former Mexican presidents—the Donald doesn’t handle opposition well. This may be a problem when he would—ostensibly—have to work with Democrats in Congress who likely won’t agree with him. Furthermore, how will this inability affect his dealings with world leaders? Will his temper flare when under pressure?
It’s easy to talk tough and be brash, but far harder to consider a differing opinion and choose to engage respectfully and intelligently. A dominant performance on Super Tuesday including victories in seven of the 11 states, in addition to winning Kentucky and Louisiana on Saturday may have put Trump in good shape, but he's still in poor form.