Few ever accuse President Donald Trump of subtlety. But in a new speech in Cleveland on Thursday, he let loose with a particularly wild rant against his Democratic opponent, former Vice President Joe Biden, that was over-the-top, even for him.
It's worth just quoting in full:
He's following the radical left agenda. Take away your guns. Destroy your Second Amendment. No religion! No anything! Hurt the Bible! Hurt God! He's against God! He's against guns! He's against energy, our kind of energy. Uh, I don't think he's going to do too well in Ohio.
Many people pointed out that there's much more evidence that Biden is a committed Christian than there is for Trump. But almost that seems to miss several key points about how wild this is:
- This not how politicians usually talk. We're used to the shattering of norms and inflammatory behavior from Trump, but it's outrageous and disturbing.
- It doesn't even make sense. Biden's going to "hurt God"? How would a president dow that? And some passages aren't even complete thoughts, such as: "No Religion! No anything!" This is incomprehensible.
- Trump is gesturing toward right-wing talking points about freedom of religion, but he can't articulate them.
- He's just rambling — he goes from guns, to the Second Amendment, to religion, and then back to guns again! And then energy! He doesn't even care enough about his audience to think about what he's saying before he says it and to organize his thoughts in a structured way. He thinks he can just spout off keywords he thinks his voters like and win re-election.
- He would actually be more persuasive if he could make a case against Biden, but all he has are these unrestrained outbursts.
Of course, Trump shocks reporters on a nearly daily basis with some brazen new act or outrageous performance, so this one will likely be soon forgotten. But it's important to always mark the moment and emphasize that there's something truly wrong with his behavior.
You can watch the clip below via YouTube:
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