I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say that Trump has never during the course of this campaign showed this much willingness to defend anyone on the Republican side from attacks that were generated by either the press or other Republicans. Instead, he gleefully parroted those attacks, or even expanded on them.

You might excuse his unwillingness to show even basic decency to his primary opponents as part of a winner-take-all mentality that is just part of Trump’s unique personality, and to the fact that he has no real loyalty to or use for the party after this campaign is over. Maybe his supporters feel the same, and that’s fine.

But what’s the excuse for soft-pedaling on Hillary Clinton, who he must know he’s likely to face in the general, if he wins the primary (which he appears very confident that he will do)? There is none, unless he really doesn’t care if he beats Hillary, as long as he beats the other Republicans in the field.