Donald Trump’s supporters can pretend otherwise, but deep down they must know the truth: Trump has been playing them for fools all along.
That is how Robinson begins this column in Friday’s Washington Post.
Robinson goes through Trump’s recent flip-flops on his signature issue of immigration — from BEFORE tonight’s flop back, and then writes
Attempts by allies to explain the complete reversal have been comic. My favorite came from Trump campaign spokeswoman Katrina Pierson, who said this on CNN: “He hasn’t changed his position on immigration, he’s changed the words that he is saying.”
That absurdist formulation sounds like something from the experimental writings of author Gertrude Stein — who, come to think of it, gave us the perfect blanket description of the entire Trump campaign: “There is no there there.”
Robinson also writes
I realize that most of Trump’s ardent fans do not take kindly to being lectured by the likes of me. But it is with a certain degree of genuine sympathy that I say what has to be said: Your candidate is a flake. A fraud. A bag of air. A con man. A joke.
As I write this, Nick Kristof and Gene Robinson are on “The Last Word” with Lawrence O’Donnell, Kristof going through the history of Trump’s history of discrimination.
Robinson was asked about how Trump is trying to muddy things by accusing Clinton, and responds by noting the difference between Trump in his 20s being involved in housing discrimination while Clinton in her 20s going South and taking risks to try to combat discrimination.
It is clear that Clinton’s speech has unleashed a serious examination of Trump’s behavior. Robinson’s column is but one example of what we will be seeing.
Returning to the column, the penultimate paragraph reads
In a sense, spokeswoman Pierson was right: Trump doesn’t actually have positions. He only has words.
It is the last paragraph that nails it. But because you should read the whole column, you will have to follow the link to see what I mean. Do it. Now.