Trump squanders chance to lead after day of fear



[ad_1]

Trump did just about the bare minimum after the attempted attacks using improvised explosives on two of his predecessors, several other prominent political critics and the New York offices of CNN.

He called for national unity, promised to bring back those responsible for justice and warned that political violence was an "attack on our democracy itself."

But he gave no sign that he understood the consequences of the most conspiratorial rhetoric and demagoguery – which has sprung from his own lips – in a midterm election campaign rooted in fear.

And there is no more than the most conspiratorial rhetoric and demagoguery – violent, dehumanizing language he himself has spread his opponents and whips up his supporters.

Characteristically, he undermined his scripted invocations of unity with his own attacks, implicitly blaming people who criticize him, the media and Democrats for the nation's dangerous political divides.

In effect, the President not to rise above the tumult or even

He did not mention the victims by name. Or give any indication that he is concerned that some people might see his flaming rhetoric as a spur to violence.

Trump's response to Wednesday's events is one of the most important issues in national crisis, crises and natural disasters.

His defenders will argue that it is absurd that it is possible to blamed a president.

They will also come out Republicans can also come under fire: Republican Rep. Steve Scalise was severely injured in a shooting spree by a man who posted anti-Trump rhetoric on social media and supported Bernie Sanders, a Democratic presidential contender.

But it is perhaps not surprising that the President should not even be aware of the facts of the political climate in such behavior – even though the man in the Oval Office is often looked upon to a moral example.

Presidential historian Doris Kearns Goodwin told Don Lemon that Trump had missed a chance to show leadership. She said he could have been attacked by Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama as an attack on all presidents, and the bomb sent to CNN as an attack on the free media.

"Everybody is hungering for that real unification," she said.

However, Trump's political method has been based on portraying opponents as a threat to America, and their views on the nation's most painful political, social and racial divides.

RELATED: Eight unforgettable ways 1968 made history

People with long political memories are becoming more worried. The Year of the Blood and Torment, 1968, which saw the political assassinations of Robert F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Jr. there are again fears that sooner or later, a tragedy that will haunt America for decades.

Trump only goes so far

Trump opened a rally in Wisconsin by condemning violence. But he then went on to lay blame elsewhere – some of the targets who were in the sights of the unknown bomb maker.

"We should not mob people in public spaces or destroy public property," Trump said, in a reference to liberal protests against GOP politicians.

In order to bridge political divides, he said, "the media also has a responsibility to set a civilian tone and to stop the hostility and constant negative and oftentimes false attacks and stories."

The President also openly mocked calls for him to fall back on his proud style at Wednesday's event, a somewhat more subdued rally in which he eschewed some of his recent, and most extreme attacks.

"I'm trying to be nice," he quipped. "Do you see how nice I'm behaving tonight?"

But Hillary Clinton or Clinton and Obama, after what were in essence assassination attempts and an attack on the presidency itself – an institution that he now holds in trust.

White House sources told CNN that Trump had made no attempt to reach out to train commanders-in-chief.

It was not the first time that had been criticized Trump for not doing enough to cool political tensions. Last year, in Charlottesville, Virginia, he saw blame for "both sides" in violence that claimed the life of a young female anti-racism protest at a white supremacist rally.

His remarks in Wisconsin were a clear sign that the White House sees a duty to track down the bomb maker and prevent future attacks, and it is also important to note that Trump's rhetoric.

But they had been one of Wednesday's devices, which were said to be easy to threaten, exploded, could have been a victim of a political debate that was raging out of control.

For many observers, Wednesday's drama was a sign that political arguments have reached a perilous point.

"These strikes are a clear sign that our country is becoming a national security threat," said Dr. Carolyn Lukensmeyer, executive director of the National Institute for Civil Discourse.

"There could be no stronger evidence than words and consequences," she said in a statement.

All blame is not

The President's insistence that all parties are to blame for the political climate also ignores his own role in public dragging into the gutter that is so unconventional that it undermines criticism that all politicians are blame.

There's only one president who indulges his angry crowds when they shout "lock up, lock up," about Hillary Clinton – in a call for a political opponent to be thrown in jail.

There is only one president who has called the press "the enemy of the people" and who grins his crowds berate reporters.
There is only one President who has praised a fellow Republican lawmaker for assaulting a reporter, as he did on the campaign trail last week.

It is not clear that the president could cool the rhetoric if he wanted to. What is a trustworthy and honest person?

Trump's willingness to break the conventions of decorum and decency with demolishing attacks on his rivals, and a disregard for civility, are inseparable from his political appeal to the base on which he has built his political career.

But Wednesday's incidents are a reminder that in such a climate, somebody could get seriously hurt or even killed.

"The President and his allies," said Carrie Cordero, an adjunct professor at Georgetown Law, who is also a CNN analyst. "They are making people less safe, they are making journals less safe, they are making law enforcement officials less safe."

CNN's Jeff Zeleny and Pamela Brown contributed to this report.

[ad_2]
Source link