It’s not funny any more - he could be president

I woke up Wednesday feeling that it was a new day in America.

Not like Ronald Reagan’s “Morning in America.” However you might feel about his politics, Reagan projected a sunny optimism.

Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee, radiates anger.

Put away your pitchforks. I’m not going to demonize Trump. There’s no need.

So many Republicans have already done so. The day of the Indiana primary, Sen. Ted Cruz went on a rant about Trump unlike any I’ve ever seen a Republican make about a fellow party member.

Well, except perhaps for former House Speaker John Boehner calling Cruz himself “Lucifer in the flesh.” To which Republican Rep. Peter King complained that the comparison was unfair to the devil. Satanists made the same point.

But Cruz had reason. On May 3, the day of the Indiana primary, Trump had linked his father to President Kennedy’s assassination.

Trump’s source: the National Enquirer, the supermarket tab with the eye-catching but crazy headlines.

Trump said, “You know his father was with Lee Harvey Oswald prior to Oswald’s being - you know, shot.”

No, it wasn’t coherent, but he was tying Cruz’s father to the assassination. He later defended his statement on Sean Hannity’s radio show.

That’s what I mean by a new day. We have a presumptive nominee for president willing to repeat the most ludicrous conspiracy theories out there.

How far will he go? Will he name Elvis to his cabinet? It would make the supporters who believe he’s still alive happy.

Wednesday morning was like waking up after a long night in Dewey Beach. It seemed like fun at the time but now you’re having second thoughts.

This is how the whole country should be feeling.

I realize many people think we need an outsider like Trump to “shake up” or “disrupt” Washington.

Won’t happen.

Within 48 hours of being named the presumptive nominee, Trump had already shown how far he is out his depth.

On Thursday, he suggested the United States should renegotiate its debt.

In Trump World, this is good stuff. You tell your creditors they have to accept less. If they don’t, Trump will declare bankruptcy.

His creditors know this is no idle threat. He’s taken four of his corporations to Chapter 11, which allows companies to continue in operation while restructuring debt.

Conservative columnist David Brooks called Trump’s plan “insane.” David Ader, a government bond expert, said it was “stupid and ridiculous and never going to happen.” (See Bloomberg.)

I could go on listing expert opinions, but here’s Trump himself. “I am the king of debt. I love debt. I love playing with it.”

He continued, “I would borrow knowing that if the economy crashed, you could make a deal.” (Financial Times.)

Trump wants to “play” with the U.S. debt and the economy and the lives of all Americans.

And if the economy crashed, as in 2008, and millions of people lost jobs and businesses were destroyed, that would be OK. Because Trump would be able to make a good deal.

He might even get another book out of it.

On April 17, the Wall Street Journal ran an article about counties with the strongest support for Donald Trump.

These counties, according to the article, had three things in common: they were mostly white, rural and Southern.

But at that point it still seemed plausible that Trump’s support had reached a ceiling. He had won some counties with a majority of the vote but not entire states.

On April 19, New York voted, followed on April 26 by Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Connecticut and Rhode Island.

The result: Trump blew through that ceiling and the whole Republican Party establishment.

Counties like Sussex helped lead the way, giving Trump 71.1 percent of the vote.

That percentage placed Sussex County among the top 10 counties in the nation for supporting Trump.

Delaware as a whole gave Trump a 61 percent win, which is exactly what his state chairman Rob Arlett called for at the April 22 rally at the state fairgrounds.

The rally was great fun and I’m sure Trump supporters reveled in his primary win.

But now it’s serious.

On primary day, Cruz called Trump a “pathological liar.” He is now deciding whether he will support that “pathological liar” for president.

The 71.1 percent of Sussex Republicans who voted for Trump will have to make that same decision.


Don Flood is a former newspaper editor living in Lewes. He can be reached at floodpolitics@gmail.com.