Has Trump Finally Gone Too Far With His Anti-Muslim Rants? I Doubt It

DECEMBER 9, 2015

Trump again. (Sorry)

I wouldn’t bother you with this nonsense, except this latest tirade against Muslims feels different. Yes, I know for months that, with every outrageous statement he makes, pundits have been saying that this is the one that will put an end to his candidacy. The government of Mexico is sending rapists across our border? Trump gets stronger. John McCain is not a real war hero because he was captured? Trump gets stronger. Fox News’ Megan Kelly asked tough debate questions because she was on her period? Trump gets stronger. He’s like Godzilla, lumbering through the Republican Party, destroying everything in his path, and every attempt to zap him with super gamma rays only makes him more powerful.

But unlike his past outrages, his proposal to ban all Muslims from entering the United States has finally been met with blowback from his GOP rivals, who previously seemed to cower in fear from Trump’s withering gaze. (The two candidates who initially stood up to him — Rick Perry and Scott Walker — are now gone from the race, so there was probably some reason to fear The Donald’s wrath.) But with this newest blast, even his most timid rivals seem to have had enough.

Jeb Bush says that Trump is “unhinged.” Chris Christie called Trump’s proposal “a ridiculous position and one that won’t even be productive.” And even Dick Cheney, the Dark Lord himself, observed that Trump’s plan “goes against everything we believe in.” When you’ve lost the King of Waterboarding, you may have gone too far.

What is especially worrying to the Republican establishment is their fear that, if Trump is the GOP nominee, not only will they be unable to recapture the White House, but Trump may drag down candidates running downticket from him, jeopardizing the Republican majority in the Senate and potentially even their lock on the House of Representatives.

Another indication that the tide may have turned against Trump was the media’s handling of Trump yesterday. Rather than their usual uninterrupted coverage of Trump rallies, news networks began to become much tougher with the candidate yesterday. George Stephanopoulos on “Good Morning America” asked Trump if he was bothered when he is compared to Hitler. And when Joe Scarborough on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” told Trump that if the candidate didn’t stop talking, he’d cut to a commercial, the candidate ignored him and blathered on, so Scarborough made good on his promise and cut him off with an ad.

Still, it’s hard to ignore the fact that Trump maintains a double-digit lead in national polls which would be hard to overcome in any event. With the holidays soon upon us, the race will likely be frozen until after the New Year. From there, it’s only a month before the first balloting begins, so the window of opportunity to stop Trump is closing fast. But if the effort to stop him is too heavy-handed, Trump has the option to simply withdraw from the race and run as a third-party candidate, thereby insuring the inauguration of President Hillary Clinton. So the leaders of the GOP have had to watch their words.

Still, it sometimes does feel good to vent. As Sen. Lindsey Graham said on CNN yesterday: “You know how you make America great again? Tell Donald Trump to go to hell.”