Trump called Scalia’s question “tough,” but had Trump actually read Scalia’s question in its entirety or even asked someone knowledgeable, he would have known that it wasn’t “tough” at all. Rather, the justice was asking about an academic theory previously endorsed by Justice Thomas (supposedly Trump’s favorite justice) and espoused in amicus briefs. If Trump were even passingly aware of Justice Thomas’s views on affirmative action, he would know Justice Thomas’s view that the Constitution forbids racial discrimination like that challenged in Fisher II.

When Tapper pressed Trump for his own opinion on racial preferences, Trump refused to answer. For a man whose entire public persona is based on saying godawful things about anything and everything, Trump’s silence is deafening. The obvious implication is that Trump still likes affirmative action – after all, he admitted that in August – but doesn’t want to admit it anymore. So much for being a bold truthteller.