Apparently GOP presidential hopeful Donald Trump is still using this as part of his ‘stump’ speech in Iowa to great effect…not the negative effect or recoil by the audience you would expect from something so heinous…but with applause and cheering.
Later, he utters the line that gets the most notice: “They say I have the most loyal people — did you ever see that? — where I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody, and I wouldn’t lose any voters,” Trump says, forming his hand into the shape of a gun. “It’s like, incredible.”
Now of course for Iowans, Fifth Avenue is a world away and represents the elites that middle America resents. A foreign place that they don’t necessarily comprehend.
But what if Mr. Trump had said something just a little be different? Like maybe these quotes?
…where I could stand in the middle of Dubuque and shoot somebody, and I wouldn’t lose any voters…
…where I could stand in the middle of Des Moines and shoot somebody, and I wouldn’t lose any voters…
…where I could stand at this podium and shoot that lady in the third row, and I wouldn’t lose any voters…
That’s a lot closer to home, isn’t it. Would that still play?
Meh. First of all he didn’t say any of those things. So what is the point of playing the “what if” game? Secondly, he was clearly joking. It was a dumb joke, but that’s what it was.
For the people that like him, this is exactly why they like him. I have heard people say that they don’t agree with him at all but like him anyway because when he talks he doesn’t sound like a typical politician.