Donald Trump is at it again. He recently criticized Carly Fiorina — who’s rising in the polls in Iowa — because of her looks. He wondered out loud — when surrounded by yes-men — how anyone could ever vote for her. “Just look at that face,” he said, adding that she’s a woman and he’s not supposed to talk about it, but “come on.” He later pretended he was talking about her “demeanor,” but no sane person accepts that explanation.
No, Donald, you were criticizing yet another woman because you think she’s ugly. That’s all there is to it.
And that brings me to one of the biggest problems I have with Trump: his obvious lack of respect for every single one of his rivals and even for critical journalists, especially those who regularly have “blood coming out of their whatever.” It isn’t merely that it’s anything but presidential, but that it’s anything but civil. This is not how anyone should behave — be they politicians, plumbers, lawyers or construction workers.
Amy Holmes said something very profound yesterday at The Blaze. Donald Trump should take it to heart:
A leader should lead with respect for others and maybe the example of Jesus, and showing love.
There’s a lot for Trump to learn from that. Having good manners isn’t the same as being politically correct. And no, being politically correct doesn’t always mean that a person had good manners. In fact, we often see the most “politically correct” people say the worst possible things. Just look at how the average liberal behaves on Twitter or Facebook when he reads something he disagrees with. If you thought only 3 year olds can throw pamper tantrums, you’ll soon know better.
Sadly, The Donald is often behaving in the same way. His views are actually remarkably politically correct on a large array of issues (he criticized Pamela Geller for holding a Mohammed cartoon contuest, he says the U.S. should take in adventurers from Syria even though it’s widely believed that ISIS is smuggling jihadis into the West dressed as refugees, and on and on), but he combines those views with behavior that’s downright aggressive and insulting.
That’s always problematic, but especially so when the person with these behavioral issues wants to become the leader of the free world. Presidents have impact; their moral values become part of America’s (and the wider West’s) culture. If the president can talk about women in an incredibly disparaging way, why can’t little Johnny? And if the president can call everybody who disagrees with him “losers,” why shouldn’t little Betty do likewise?
The president sets the standard. And yes, the same can be said for presidential candidates. If they’re respectful of others, it has an impact on the people, their culture and their moral values.
It’s time for Trump to understand that he’s no longer “just” a TV personality or businessman. He’s a presidential candidate — the current frontrunner no less. If he takes that role seriously, he has to clean up his act and start behaving like a statesman.
As an aside, Bobby Jindal is also wrong to call Trump an “egomaniacal madman.” Jindal has to lead by example. If he believes that Trump is treating people badly, he should show him how it’s done. What he should not do is prove that he can be just as bad, insulting and denigrating as The Donald. He can criticize Trump for his conduct — as Amy pointed out — but why does he have to make it personal? What nonsense: stick to the issues and talk about people’s behavior rather than their character. It’s not that difficult; most of us do it all the time when arguing with our family and friends.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member