If Barack
Obama became the Democratic standard-bearer for “hope and change” eight years
ago, Donald Trump has become the Republican embodiment of “hope for change.”
Ever since the Manhattan billionaire captured the Republican
nomination, top Republicans have been lining up to predict, more with optimism
than evidence, that Trump would change, mellow, pivot, evolve and mature.
The most recent round came after Trump’s controversial
attacks that the “Mexican heritage” of an American-born federal judge made him
incapable of being impartial in a case about Trump University. The remarks were
condemned by Republicans and Democrats alike as racist.
“He ought to change directions, and I hope that’s what we’re
going to see,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said to Bloomberg. "I do think Donald Trump understands that his
tone and rhetoric is going to have to evolve…I think he gets that,” Republican
National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus told theWashington Examiner. Republican Sen. Jeff Flake told NBC, “I'm holding out hope that we'll see some changes.”
When Trump delivered a sober, teleprompter-aided election
night address last Tuesday, he sought to calm GOP nerves. “I understand the
responsibility of carrying the mantle,” Trump said in perhaps his most subdued
speech of the cycle. "And I will never, ever let you down."
Priebus gave him rave reviews, tapping out on Twitter.
“Exactly the right approach and perfectly delivered.” But many Republicans fret
that Trump is a ticking time bomb, only ever a moment away from snapping back
to his old self.
“You can put this guy behind the teleprompter for the next
month but eventually he’s going to be alone with a keyboard and he’s going to
say on Twitter what he really thinks,” said Tucker Martin, a veteran
Virginia-based Republican strategist.
Sure enough, on Friday morning, three days after Trump’s
latest much-analyzed “pivot,” Republicans awoke to an early morning Trump
missive that reignited questions of racially charged rhetoric.
“Pocahontas is at it again! Goofy Elizabeth Warren, one of the least productive
U.S. Senators, has a nasty mouth. Hope she is V.P. choice,” Trump had tweeted.
From Politico, read it HERE
No comments:
Post a Comment