Just when you thought Donald Trump’s firing of longtime campaign manager Corey Lewandowski and hiring of a legitimate communications staff might mean that his campaign would finally begin to steer away from the xenophobic, questionable, and absurdist behavior that it is known for, the presumptive Republican nominee proves everyone wrong. At a recent rally in New Hampshire, Trump returned to his normal bag of campaign trail tricks in order to once again boost the buzz around his presidential bid. This time, it was pointing above him to a plane passing by and saying it could be a “Mexican plane” that was “getting ready to attack.”
Yes, that actually happened in the 2016 Presidential race.
A plane just flew over Trump’s NH speech. He paused & pointed up. “That could be a Mexican plane up there. They’re getting ready to attack"
— Jim Dalrymple II (@Dalrymple) June 30, 2016
After more than a year of Trump’s antics and absurd or scary events occurring at his rallies, it shouldn’t even come as a surprise when it happens once again. And yet, the circus around his campaign has not become any less of a sideshow at which to rubberneck as the race rolls on. His full comments included this gem:
“Mexico, and I respect Mexico. I respect their leaders. What they’ve done to us is incredible. Their leaders are so much smarter, so much sharper, and it’s incredible. In fact that could be a Mexican plane up there, they’re getting ready to attack.”
Besides this snippet of his speech not making any sense at all (what have Mexicans done to “us” and what is the difference in their leaders’ education between say, 50 years ago, and now?), it is also incredibly intolerant and the perfect example of Trump’s fear-mongering campaign. The good news is that the reaction from the crowd, after he tells them a normal plane passing by could be some kind of Mexican terrorist plot, looks to be far different than it has been at previous events.
Whether that is because even his supporters are sick of Trump’s political strategy or because New Hampshire is a state that is largely Democratic is hard to tell without more context, but maybe it is proof of an abatement of the wave of support that he has experienced over the last year.
(Via NBC News)