http://www.dailywire.com/news/7967/7-steps-defending-donald-trump-guide-ben-shapiro?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_content=news&utm_campaign=twitterbenshapiro7 Steps To Defending Donald Trump: A GuideBY: BEN SHAPIRO AUGUST 1, 2016
So, over the weekend, Donald Trump decided it would be a smart political move to get into a poop-flinging spat with a Gold Star family.
It started when the family of slain soldier Captain Humayun Khan spoke at the Democratic National Convention; his father, Khizr Khan, accused Trump of unfamiliarity with the Constitution and of never having sacrificed, specifically targeting Trump’s proposed Muslim immigration ban. Trump fought back by stating that Ghazala Khan, Khizr’s wife, stood onstage silently because of some interpretation of Islam, and then stated, “I think I made a lot of sacrifices.” Trump then tweeted, “Mr. Khan, who does not know me, viciously attacked me from the stage of the DNC and is now all over TV doing the same – Nice!” He then added, “I was viciously attacked by Mr. Khan at the Democratic Convention. Am I not allowed to respond? Hillary voted for the Iraq war, not me!”
So, naturally, the Trumpsters are out in full-throated defense.
This is a perfect time to sketch out the new Republican Guide To Trump Defense:
1. Trump’s right! He’s fighting back! No matter what happens, Trump is always right. His surrogates, like Scottie Nell Hughes, will state that Trump has made a politically incorrect point that was utterly necessary (“creating jobs caused him to be at work, which cost him two marriages!”). How could anyone expect Trump not to fire back? After all, he’s being fired upon! This is everything that’s wrong with Trump’s opponents – they just want him to bow and scrape when he’s being assaulted. But Trump won’t, because Trump stronk like bool!
2. You’re misconstruing Trump’s words. Next, Trump defenders fall back on the tried-and-true “you’re deliberately twisting Donald’s words” tactic. After Trump said on Sunday that the Russians hadn’t invaded Ukraine, Trump himself tried this one – what he meant was that when he’s president, the Russians won’t invade Ukraine. Because the media are corrupt and anti-Trump (true), Trump defenders can with some credibility claim that he’s sometimes deliberately misinterpreted. But he’s not misinterpreted all the time.
3. They deserved it anyway. When Trump gets caught, his defenders then use the full leftist tactic of targeting the victim of Trump aggression. So the Khan family immediately finds itself subjected to Roger Stone’s insinuations that Khizr Khan is a Muslim Brotherhood plant, and that even Humayun might have been a secret jihadi. Let’s say all that were true (we have no evidence of any of it) – Trump certainly didn’t know that when he attacked the Khan family. But it doesn’t matter, because anyone who doesn’t get on the Trump Train must be crushed beneath its wheels.
4. It’s six-dimensional chess! After the media respond to the latest Trump stupidity with outrage and overkill coverage, the Trump defenders claim that Trump was actually just being a genius. After Trump gave his well-received RNC acceptance speech, for example, he came out the next morning and launched into the rantings and ravings of an insane person regarding Ted Cruz’s father. His defenders immediately claimed that this was a brilliant way of directing media coverage away from Hillary’s announcement of dull-as-ditchwater Tim Kaine.
5. He was betrayed! Trump defenders invariably suggest that Trump was set up. He’s simultaneously the smartest man on the planet, but also the most gullible. When he doesn’t condemn the KKK on CNN with Jake Tapper, it’s Tapper’s fault for setting him up. To be fair, this particular tactic isn’t unique to Trump supporters – many Republicans did this when Sarah Palin couldn’t answer basic questions about her newspaper reading list. There are certainly media hit jobs (and both Palin and Trump have been subjected to them), but not every Republican mistake is one of them.
6. The media are biased against Trump. This is true. It’s also no excuse for being an idiot. Trump routinely falls right into the hands of the media, because his supporters rarely hold him to account.
7. If you’re saying anything bad about Trump, you’re helping Hillary. This is always the last resort of the ardent Trump supporter: shut up, cuck! This presumes that Trump support requires Chris Christie-level sycophancy – that the only way for Trump to win is for his supporters to lie and spin for him. It’s Trump’s responsibility not to do stupid and terrible things. It’s nobody’s responsibility to be his spokesperson.
But don’t worry – the Trumpkin gaslighting of America will continue. They’re just the flipside of the Hillary supporters, who greenlight every horrible thing that cruel piece of goods does. If you wonder why our politics has fallen into disrepute, it’s because the team sport now matters more than common decency and truth.
