After last night's debate. He is no longer entertaining to me. The act is getting very old.
He acts out in five ways. Evasion. Ignorance. Insult. Denial. Interruption.
They were all on full display last night.
A few examples.
Evasion
There are many examples of his evasion tactics from last night but the one that stood out to me was over the Trump tax returns. He claimed he could not release his tax returns because he was under audit. He also claimed that Mitt Romney had not released his tax returns in the 2012 campaign until September.
First, the fact that the IRS is auditing Trump's tax returns would not keep him from releasing his returns. Second, even if he would not want to release these returns while under audit, there is nothing to prevent him from releasing earlier years. Third, Trump evaded the truth by saying Romney had not released his tax return until September, 2011. Romney actually released his 2010 return (the most recent filed return at the time) in January, 2012 along with a 20 year summary of his income, deductions and his effective tax rate. He also released a projected summary of his 2011 return since it would not be filed until the extended due of September 15. Romney released that return within a week of its filing with the IRS.
You really have to wonder what is in those Trump returns?
For example, could it be that the Clintons actually had more income than Trump in recent years? The Clintons had $28 million in adjusted gross income on their 2014 return. Even worse for Trump, what if his income was actually smaller than Romney's $14 million in 2011.
It would not surprise me as Trump made a big point in the debate of saying that it was his financial statement rather than his tax returns that told the story of how wealthy. This sounds to me like someone who is preparing us for something.
If Trump had less income than either the Clintons or Romney it would actually be good for him politically. However, it would be devastating to his ego. And that says it all doesn't it? He is not as concerned with winning the Presidency for the good of you and me as burnishing his own ego.
Ignorance
Trump's ignorance of the the issues was on full display last night. He clearly does not have a clue about health care policy in particular. He keeps talking about not wanting people to die in the streets but seems to be totally ignorant about the fact that the Medicaid program was established to make sure that does not occur. How many people do we see dying in the streets right now.
He also keeps talking about state lines as if that will solve the entire problem. He really does not have a clue and I say that as someone who knows a lot about the health care area.
When referring to his sister who was an Appeals Court judge with Samuel Alito, he said that they had both signed on to a "bill." Judges do not sign bills, they write legal opinions and decisions. Rather remarkable that he would make such a fundamental error.
I could write a book on this category alone from last night.
Insult
I doubt there has been anyone in my lifetime who has insulted more people than Donald Trump. He was on his game last night.
Here are just a few insults that I remember from last night.
Mitt Romney- " a fool and a loser"
Marco Rubio- "a choke artist"
Ted Cruz- "a liar"
Telemundo- "I don't believe anything they say"
Hugh Hewitt- "Your radio show ratings are terrible. No one listens to you, believe me."
Denial
Trump was in denial most particularly when pressed about his employment practices. It is a fact that he was fined for using illegal Polish immigrant labor when building Trump Tower. He actually claimed in the debate that everyone was happy about it.
He also claimed in the debate that his use of foreign workers at his resorts in Florida was due to the fact that they could not find American workers for those jobs. Really? Isn't Trump the guy who has been talking about the terrible economy and how the real unemployment rate is 20%?
Interruption
I don't think I have ever seen anyone interrupt and talk over people more than Trump did last night. Rubio and Cruz undressed Trump time and time again but much of what they said was drowned out by Trump interrupting and talking over them.
For example, here is a graphic from NPR showing the speaking times from last night's debate.
How does Trump get 3 times as much talk time as Carson?
For one thing, you interrupt and talk whether it is your turn or not.
This imbalance led me tweet this question out on Twitter last night during the debate.
We have all heard the story about the Emperor who had no clothes.
Last night, we saw that the entertainer has no clothes.
And it was not a pretty sight.
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