Fresh from comparing a “pathological” Ben Carson to a “child molester,” Donald Trump gave a long (95 minutes), rambling speech in Iowa last night in which he might have given fewer f*cks than he has ever given previously in a campaign speech. In the speech, Trump once again makes the child molester comparison, while also breaking down some stories from his past Carson has told that have come under scrutiny, and concludes by imploring voters not to be “fools” and vote for Carson, who he implies is a psychopath, basically.
This Washington Post report on the speech almost doesn’t seem real. Reading it made me wonder if Trump might be considering getting out of the race soon because he just sounds so over it. As the writer of the piece, Jenna Johnson, notes, “He promised to take questions from the audience, but instead launched into a 95-minute-long rant that at times sounded like the monologue of a man grappling with why he is running for president — and if it’s really worth it or not.” She added that Trump “appeared to unravel” and at one point “wondered aloud if he should just move to Iowa and buy a farm.” Seriously, Johnson’s report is so chock full of delicious, no-f*cks-given nuggets that I’m at a loss at what’s best to excerpt, but I’ll do my best.
Trump called Republican rival Carly Fiorina “Carly whatever-the-hell-her-name-is,” accused Democratic front-runner Hillary Rodham Clinton of playing the “woman’s card” and said Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) is “weak like a baby.” He then devoted more than 10 minutes angrily attacking his chief rival, Ben Carson, saying the retired doctor has a “pathological disease” with no cure, similar to being a child molester.
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But Trump appeared to unravel on stage Thursday evening before a crowd of roughly 1,500 in Fort Dodge, a small industrial town 100 miles northwest of Des Moines. Many in the crowd were community college students who have never voted in a presidential election, along with teachers, local politicians and a number of farmers from the area. Rather than sticking to his usual, tidy 60 minutes, Trump kept going and going. Campaign staffers with microphones had planned to solicit questions from the audience, but instead stood waiting in the aisles, then sat for a while, then stood again at attention. Those standing on risers behind Trump — providing a backdrop of Iowan faces — eventually gave up and sat down in a falling cascade.
At first, the audience was quick to laugh at Trump’s sharp insults and applaud his calls for better care for veterans, to replace the Affordable Care Act, and to construct a wall along the Mexican border. But as the speech dragged on, the applause came less often and grew softer. As Trump attacked Carson using deeply personal language, the audience grew quiet, a few shaking their heads. A man sitting in the back of the auditorium loudly gasped.
Carson responded today and refused to hit back, saying, “Now that he’s completed his gratuitous attack, why don’t we press on and deal with the real issues?” No wonder the GOP establishment is starting to freak out.
