Horowitz: Trump’s Failure to Accept Any Responsibility Disqualifies Him
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Tuesday, March 15, 2016
Rob Horowitz, GoLocalWorcester MINDSETTER™
Rob Horowitz
For what close Trump watchers now recognize as his standard practice, Donald Trump evaded and lied his way through his many television interviews over the weekend, refusing to accept any responsibility for the sporadic, but escalating, violence that has occurred at his rallies and at an event he cancelled Friday night in Chicago.
Even worse, he defended John McGraw, one of his supporters, who was arrested for assault after sucker-punching a protester who was being escorted out of a rally last week in North Carolina by local police. Trump told Chuck Todd on Meet the Press that he was still considering paying McGraw’s legal bills. “From what I understand, he was sticking a certain finger up in the air,” Trump said. “And that is a terrible thing to do in front of somebody that frankly wants to see America made great again.”
For anyone who saw the video of the sucker-punch and heard Mr. McGraw tell Inside Edition that the next time he saw the man he punched, ‘he might have to kill him”, Trump’s pathetic defense rings hollow. Even when confronted with the consequences of his repeated incitement of his supporters to physically go after protesters, and given the opportunity to exercise responsible leadership and dial-it down, Trump doubled-down.
Trump’s choice words at his rallies, include saying he would like to ‘punch a protester in the face”, telling his supporters that in the good old days, protesters would be carried out on a stretcher, and his previous offer to pay legal fees for people that roughed up protesters. “Just knock the hell out of them,” Trump said, “I promise you, I will pay for the legal fees."
To give Trump a benefit of the doubt he doesn’t deserve, one could initially argue that to this Master Showman and Reality Television Star, his harsh comments about how to treat the protesters were mainly intended to add drama to the Show. But his refusal to change his tone in the face of mounting violence, coupled with his failure to take any responsibility for it, demonstrates why he is completely unqualified to be President.
The outrageous and dangerous way Trump has handled a situation that he created, caused both John Kasich and Marco Rubio to waver on their commitment to support Trump, if he wins the nomination.
Kasich said, “Donald Trump has created a toxic political environment…There is no place for a national leader to prey on the fears on people who live in our great country.”
Rubio told Jake Tapper on State of the Union on Sunday, ‘It’s getting harder every day to justify that statement to myself, to my children, to my family, to the people that support me. This country deserves better. At some point, people have to wake up here. This is really going to do damage to America.”
Whether or not Donald Trump pays a price for his irresponsibility in today’s important primary contests, his disqualifying actions make a contested convention more likely and make the possibility of his ultimate election as President of the United States more remote. And they sure should.
Rob Horowitz is a strategic and communications consultant who provides general consulting, public relations, direct mail services and polling for national and state issue organizations, various non-profits and elected officials and candidates. He is an Adjunct Professor of Political Science at the University of Rhode Island.
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