Everybody knows — sort of — that the president does it on purpose. But nobody can help themselves. Pundits and politicians react this way because they feel they have to: the temptation to sound important — by saying the president shouldn’t be so trivial — is overwhelming. The feedback loop never breaks.

Sane people wish it would stop. Sane people can see that Trump uses provocative words because he wants to provoke, such as when he says immigrant Democratic radicals should ‘go back’ to where they came from.

It isn’t because he’s stupid. It isn’t even because he’s smart. It’s because the media is stupid and thinks it is smart. Trump may have foolish traits but he’s astute enough to see that. He knows the mainstream media will always fall for his bait, even when it knows it is being baited.