What I'd like everyone to focus on is the fact that Trump has never attacked first. It's always been in response to smears and low blows from others. Look it up. I'd challenge anyone to come up with one example where he punched first.
Now consider this. Consider all the times you complained that W never hit back. George W. Bush took every blow and watched as his popularity plunged; watched as the left redefined him, twisted his words and deeds.
So who's to say that hitting back is the wrong thing to do, even for the Republican gentry?