When it came to Donald Trump’s comments on violence from illegal immigrants, I argued that it was possible to differentiate between the man (Trump) and the issue. Whether or not you liked the man, he raised a legitimate issue.
Trump in an interview today made a comment about John McCain that is reverberating around the internet:
“He’s a war hero ’cause he was captured. I like people that weren’t captured.”
Now there is no daylight between the man and the issue.
It’s ludicrous to argue that McCain is not worthy of hero status for his service just because he was captured. It’s not like he was Bowe Bergdahl and deserted. McCain was shot down, and famously endured torture in North Vietnamese prison. He also refused release when the North Vietnamese learned he was the son of an Admiral, and sought to score political points.
There were plenty of people just waiting to find an issue to go after Trump. Illegal immigrant violence wasn’t the issue. This may be it.
Is this the end, or at least the beginning of the end of Trump’s rise?
Will this be remembered as the moment the rise of Trump’s campaign began to slow and the Republican Party began to heal?
Or will it all just be noise?
UPDATE: Leave it to RNC to say something repressive – No room “in this country” for negative comments about John McCain’s war record? You can disagree with the comments, but don’t prove that you are even worse:
Update No. 2 – 8:30 p.m. Eastern, July 19, 2015: Trump is fighting back, and not backing down:
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