In his prime, many years before America elected its first black president, Eddie Murphy used to joke about Jesse Jackson getting elected president by drunk white guys who thought that voting for him was funny. “He actually won?!” went Murphy’s impression of hungover voters on the morning after.
Federal officials are having a similar moment as they contemplate the implications of Donald Trump’s status as the Republican Party’s presumptive nominee. From Bloomberg News:
Donald Trump, the most voluble U.S. presidential candidate in memory, will soon be entitled to regular briefings on some of the nation’s most sensitive intelligence secrets.
Once Trump, known for his off-the-cuff speeches and constant tweets, becomes the Republican nominee for the White House in July, he’ll be entitled to updates based on the President’s Daily Brief, a compilation of top-level classified intelligence about global events.
It’s a prospect giving pause to some officials, who wonder how Trump will react to the information and whether he might inadvertently let some sensitive information slip out, according to several who asked not to be identified because they don’t want to be seen as taking sides in the political campaign.
Trump will thus be entrusted with his first real responsibility as a potential president: properly handling critical intelligence. Can he handle it? Can we?
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