Nothing short of Mr. Donald Trump randomly shooting someone would cause Mr. Ted Cruz, a leading Republican president candidate, to disavow the billionaire.
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All the Republican presidential candidates, to the dismay of some, have thus far maintained their pledge to support the nominee, whoever it is, even if it’s Mr. Donald Trump, an American businessman who pundits have compared to Mr. Adolf Hitler, a German politician who led the Nazi Party, and Mr. Benito Mussolini, an Italian politician who led the National Fascist Party. Even after this past Friday night, when an announcement that Mr. Trump’s rally in Chicago would be postponed for safety concerns sparked a violent clash between supporters of the real-estate mogul and anti-Trump protesters, Mr. Marco Rubio on Saturday said he still plans to support Mr. Trump if he’s the nominee, though it’s “getting harder every day.”
Mr. Rubio was among the presidential candidates, from both Parties, that condemned Mr. Trump for inciting violence with his inflammatory remarks. But from Mr. Trump’s republican peers, only a tongue-lashing was offered in response to Friday’s melee, which the media has compared to the Democratic Convention riots of 1968. There was, I assume, the expectation among some that figured this latest display of divisiveness, caused by separatist language uttered by the Republican front-runner, would be the catalyst for the remaining three candidates – Mr. Rubio, Mr. John Kasich, the Governor of Ohio, and Mr. Ted Cruz – to renege on their vow to support Mr. Trump if he was to win the nomination. But no such thing occurred. Instead, Mr. Trump, after taking in all the criticism, blamed the violence on Mr. Bernie Sanders, suggesting the Vermont Senator orchestrated the protesters who infiltrated his Chicago rally.
Disappointing it is that no Republican presidential candidate has yet to break rank and take a stand against the nastiness that Mr. Trump’s campaign embodies. But one candidate has, at least, set a red line so extreme that even Mr. Trump won’t cross it, maybe. Mr. Ted Cruz, the Texas Senator who Mr. Trump calls “Lying Ted,” said if Mr. Trump were to go out on Fifth Avenue and shoot someone, he would disavow him. Ironically enough, Mr. Trump has joked about randomly shooting someone, suggesting that if were to do so, his followers are so loyal that it would be of no consequence.
Hard to believe the GOP in #Decision2016 has been reduced to considerations of attempted murder and juvenile jokes of penises, hands and faces. Our democratic process, more so than ever before, has become a punch-line. And it’s not just American laymen and pundits who are watching in horror and disbelief, but the antics of the Republicans, specifically Mr. Trump, have garnered opinions from across the globe. According to the Washington Post, The Global Times, a state-owned China newspaper, yesterday in an editorial, implied that democracy may not be a good thing considering the rise of an “abusively racist and extremist” candidate in the U.S.
The paper wrote that it’s shocking that in a country that “boasts one of the most developed and mature democratic election systems” that a “narcissistic and inflammatory candidate” can rise to be ubiquitous in mainstream politics. While I don’t agree that Mr. Trump’s success in politics means democracy is bad, I will concede that Mr. Trump’s electoral victories are shocking. Shocking they are, but illegal they’re not. It appears that everything Mr. Trump is doing though immoral some would say, is legal. He has the right to free speech, even if it’s perceived as hate speech. He has the right to assemble, even if it seems he’s attempting to incite a riot. And that’s the truly scary part: nothing Mr. Trump is doing or saying can be halted for legal reasons until it can be.
We as a country should be reminding Mr. Trump, and everyone for that matter, that just because you have the right to do or say something doesn’t mean you should. In many cases, the morality of an action is just as important as its legality. Mr. Trump, in my opinion, is beginning to abuse his rights as an American. And the fact that nothing short of attempted murder will enrage his peer enough to distance himself is as obscene and outrageous and Mr. Trump’s antics.
Mr. Trump doesn’t deserve to be President, let alone campaign for the job. And until his fellow Republicans vying for the presidency disavow Mr. Trump for his demagoguery and bigotry, they are, in my eyes, guilty by association.
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