Ignorance may doom Trump

The following is an excerpt from a column in the Washington Post by Jennifer Rubin:

The more Donald Trump is forced to expound on issues, the more jaw-dropping gaffes, inconsistencies and contradictions emerge. That was vividly on display when he suggested in an MSNBC interview that under an abortion ban he would want “some form of punishment” meted out to women. His campaign quickly put out a statement reversing that, while denying that it was reversing anything.

This is quintessential Trump. He wanders into a policy arena unknown to him (meaning any policy arena), says something silly, and then must wiggle out of it either by contradicting himself immediately or by having aides try to clean it up later.

Had Trump bothered to learn anything about the pro-life movement since his claimed conversion from his pro-abortion stance, he would know that his stance is unacceptable within the pro-life movement, not to mention with those favouring abortion rights. Trump does not, however, seem to possess the slightest intellectual curiosity — about beliefs he says he now holds, about foreign policy, about the Constitution or even about the delegate rules.

The media keep insisting that this is all a devilishly clever plan to distract the public. Perhaps it is. But what is to be gained, for example, by displaying a shocking lack of understanding as to what the judicial branch does?

It is equally, if not more likely, that Trump is entirely out of his depth. By his own admission, all he does is work and play golf, so it is not as if he has spent years learning public policy, let alone history and Constitutional law.

Being focused on constantly making money (and ancillary functions like litigation, book tours and social events) does not leave much time for reflection or learning about non-business-related matters.

It is also entirely possible that his massive ego will not allow him to acknowledge what he does not know and get up to speed.