Donald Trump is not high on my list of people who ought to be the president of the United States. I would prefer a candidate who has a track record of conservatism. Who supports free trade. Who has served in elective office. Who can keep his petty resentments below the surface. And who doesn’t casually slander whole ethnic groups or call reporters “bimbos” for asking him tough questions.
But even after weeks and weeks of what has become the Summer of Trump, I can’t get worked up about him. Former Texas Governor Rick Perry said that Trump is “a cancer on conservatism” that has to be excised. Washington Post columnists George Will and Michael Gerson, among others, seem to agree. Gerson even chided those of us who have said that other political figures could stand to move partway toward Trump’s position on immigration.
I just can’t take Trump that seriously. He is not going to be president. He’s not going to be the Republican nominee. He’s probably not going to hurt the eventual nominee’s chances of winning. Trump is an existential threat to the weakest primary candidates — but not to anybody else.
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