There is a danger, as we wrote a few weeks ago, that we become inured to President Donald Trump's mockery of democratic norms and common decency. To stave off forgetfulness, we provide here some of Trump's actual comments at a rally in Phoenix on Tuesday night, juxtaposed with what we imagine a presidential president--a president we could be proud of--might have said:
"You know I'd love it if the cameras could show this crowd, because it is rather incredible. It is incredible. It is incredible. As everybody here remembers, this was the scene of my first rally speech, right? The crowds were so big, almost as big as tonight, that the people said right at the beginning, you know, there's something special happening here. And we went to center stage almost from day one in the debates. We love those debates. But we went to center stage, and we never left, right?"
"As we begin, I just want to say on behalf of all Americans that our hearts go out to the 10 American sailors who are missing in the terrible accident involving our 7th Fleet on the other side of the world, and to their families. Our brave men and women serve far from home for months and years at a time and take grave risks every day to keep us free."
"You look at what just happened in Spain and so many other places. Nope. We're really vetting. We're tough. Does anybody want me to be soft on the vetting, or would you like 'extreme vetting'? I came up with that term. That's what it has to be."
"And finally, before we dive into politics, let's have a moment of silence for our brave allies in Barcelona, victims of the latest cowardly terrorist attack. It was sobering to learn that the attackers in Barcelona were young men who lived and worked right there in Spain. No travel ban would have kept them away. It's a reminder to all of us that, while we need to safeguard our borders, we also need to foster inclusion, to discourage homegrown terrorism and to encourage cooperation with law enforcement."
"But believe me, if we have to close down our government, we're building that wall."
"Now, we're coming up on a risky time. Congress has to raise the debt ceiling, or the world won't have faith in American credit anymore, and that would be disastrous. It has to pass a budget, or the government will shut down."
"Well, it's obvious that we won the state of Arizona, do you agree with that? It's pretty obvious. And we won it by a lot. And I hear we're winning it by even more right now."
"Well, thanks again for welcoming me back to Arizona. You know, slightly more than half of you voted against me in 2016, if you count Hillary Clinton and the third-party candidates together, but that's OK. It doesn't matter to me now who you voted for--I want to be the president for every Arizonan, and I'm going to work hard every day to earn your trust and make you proud."
Editorial on 08/25/2017