“Downright scary and disturbing” – Two must-reads on Trump’s bonkers Phoenix rant
We were ready to write our own headachey “morning-after” reaction to Donald Trump’s crazed Phoenix rally speech yesterday, but we can’t outdo Digby’s on-the-mark at Salon. Here’s just a taste, in which she explains the urgent political need for Trump to go back to “the people”:
Trump chose Arizona for a reason. Last week he signaled that he planned to pardon notorious former Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Maricopa County (which includes Phoenix), a staunch Trump supporter who was recently convicted of criminal contempt in federal court for violating a judge’s order to stop the racial profiling of Latino drivers. Trump obviously needed to get back in touch with his anti-immigrant base, where he feels he can let his racist flag fly more freely.
The other must-read is not so-much a must-read as a must-see. After Trump’s campaign appearance (yes, his re-election campaign paid for teh appearance), former National Security Director James Clapper said this to Don Lemon on CNN:
Clapper: It’s hard to know where to start. It was just so objectionable on so many levels. You know, I toiled in one capacity or another for every president since and including John F. Kennedy through President Obama, and i don’t know when I’ve listened and watched something like this from a president that I’ve found more disturbing, Having some understanding of the levers of power that are available to a president if he chooses to exercise them, I found this downright scary and disturbing.…
Lemon: Do you question his fitness?
Clapper: Yes, I do. I really question his ability to be — his fitness to be — in this office, and I also am beginning to wonder about his motivation for – maybe he is looking for a way out. I do wonder as well about the people that [are] attracted to this rally and others – you know, what are they thinking? Or why am I so far off base, because I don’t understand the adulation.
Watch the whole thing here.
James Clapper, former director of national intelligence, says he questions President Trump’s fitness for office https://t.co/IRRXg7paZM
— CNN (@CNN) August 23, 2017
